2003-09-19
                                     Welcome to the

                                    ALTERNATE REALITY
                                FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

                                  FAQ version 2.0 (beta)

                    -covering everything about and around the games-

                                   by Robert Hagenstrm
                         e  o  b  e  t  @  s  p  r  a  y  .  s  e

                         http://www.eobet.com/alternate-reality/

             Alternate Reality: The City and Alternate Reality: The Dungeon
                                are copyright Philip Price.
           Alternate Reality is a registered trademark (in the United States)
                               of Paradise Programming, Inc.



    THIS FAQ MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED ANYWHERE BUT ON THE WEBSITE WWW.GAMWFAQS.COM AND ON ITS
    HOMEPAGE AS WRITTEN IN THE HEADING OF THIS DOCUMENT. PERMISSION TO PRINT THE DOCUMENT
    FOR PERSONAL USE IS HEREBY GIVEN. THE CONTENTS OF THIS FAQ MAY NOT BE USED, IN WHOLE
    OR IN PART, WITHOUT EXPLICIT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR (OR IN THE CASE OF A SECTION
    WRITTEN BY SOMEONE ELSE, AS STATED, PERMISSION HAS TO BE GRANTED BY THAT PERSON).



~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`

CONTENTS
--------

0. Revision History

1. How to read this FAQ!

2. Introduction
        2.1 What is AR?
        2.1.1 What is The City?
        2.1.2 What is The Dungeon?
        2.2 About the authors of the games
        2.3 The history of the games
        2.4 The complete plans for AR

3. Playing the games
        3.1 General tips for The City
                3.1.1 Combat, experience and levels
                3.1.2 List of monsters
        3.2 General tips for The Dungeon
                3.2.1 Walkthrough for The Dungeon
                3.2.2 Rumors heard in The Dungeon
        3.3 Using Emulators to play the games
                3.3.1 About rom images
                3.3.2 Regarding disk images
                3.3.3 Rundowns on the different emulators
                3.3.4 The IBM PC version of The City

4. Items, locations and other things
        4.1 Items in The City
                4.1.1 Clothes
                4.1.2 Food and Drinks
                4.1.3 Weapons and Armour
                4.1.4 Treasure
        4.2 Items in The Dungeon
                4.2.1 Treasure
                4.2.2 One-of-a-kind Items
        4.3 Establishments in The City
                4.3.1 Taverns
                4.3.2 Inns
                4.3.3 Banks
                4.3.4 Guilds
                4.3.5 Healers
                4.3.6 Smiths
                4.3.7 Shops
                4.3.8 Other locations
        4.4 Locations in The Dungeon
                4.4.1 Guilds
                4.4.2 Fountains
                4.4.3 Transporters
                4.4.4 Other Special Locations
                4.4.5 Special Areas

5. Secrets and cheats
        5.1 Secret Codes in The City
        5.2 Secret Codes in The Dungeon
                5.2.1 Secret Items in The Dungeon
        5.3 Cheating with the Emulators
                5.3.1 Manipulating The City
                5.3.2 Manipulating The Dungeon
        5.4 Secret messages in the games
        5.5 Hidden trivia and annotations

6. Miscellanious AR questions
        6.1 What is the current legal status of AR?
        6.2 What or who is Xebec?
        6.3 What are the Deathtraps?
        6.4 What is this 'secret area' in The City?
        6.5 How do you raise your alignment in The City?
        6.6 How do you raise/lower your alignment in The Dungeon?
        6.7 How do you kill the Great Wyrm?
        6.8 What can I do about the Devourer?
        6.9 Has the Enchantress any really significant use?
        6.10 I remember FBI Agents in The Dungeon?
        6.11 What does 'you are TOAST level 1.1' mean in The Dungeon?
        6.12 What is this AMP engine?
        6.13 What AR artifacts exists?
        6.14 Are there any AR-like games today?
        6.15 Why is the movie The Matrix so similar to AR?

7. Other sources of AR information
        7.1 The Alternate Reality Mailing List
        7.2 #alternate-reality on IRC
        7.3 Other AR pages on the web

8. Appendix
        8.1 Reference card for The City
        8.2 Reference card for The Dungeon
        8.3 The letter from Trilog
        8.4 Complete lyrics for all songs
        8.5 A letter from Gary Gilbertson

9. Special Thanks & Credits

10. Last Notes

~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`

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0. REVISION HISTORY
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

You can always get the latest version of this FAQ at its home location, as printed on
the top of this document.

v2.0   19/09/03   "Beta" release due to the long waiting period. Too many updates to list.
v1.4   15/11/02   Small updates here and there, most notably to emulator and game reviews.
v1.3   31/03/02   Another rather large update. Updates everywhere and new sections to read.
v1.2.1 24/09/01   New AR trivia section (5.5) and a little version numbering change.
v1.2   22/02/01   MASSIVE update (pretty much to all sections) which broke the 200k barrier!!!
v1.103 21/02/01   Added a small section about the PC version of The City (3.3.4).
v1.102 17/10/00   Updated some emulator reviews (3.3.3) and the history of the games (2.3).
v1.101 27/09/00   New Mailing List info (last time, hopefully)!
v1.1   06/07/00   * Added section with secret messages from both the games (5.4).
                  * Added an overheard rumors section for The Dungeon (3.2.2).
                  * Cleaned up and corrected small infobits here and there.
v1.093 02/06/00   Added new AR Mailing List info and new download locations for files.
v1.092 21/03/00   Added a new ftp location (many thanks to Robert Cortese for the space)!
v1.091 09/03/00   Corrected some of the credits found in the different sections.
v1.09 06/02/00    Removed more Dungeon spoilers for future restructuring of the FAQ.
v1.08 06/02/00    Lots of small infobits dug up from old mail, added credits in text.
v1.07 31/01/00    C64 AR emulated for the very first time. Read all about it in section 3.3!
v1.06 08/11/99    Added question 6.4 "How do you raise your alignment in The City?"
v1.05 21/04/99    Updated the emulation review section with the new WinUAE release.
v1.04 31/01/99    * New mailing list email, and corrected majordomo-command errors.
                  * Added preliminary memory locations for The City.
                  * Added price list for food and drinks for all Taverns (City).
                  * Removed all the NEW: tags (since they weren't new anymore).
v1.03 20/11/98    Had an extensive online chat session with the man, Philip Price himself
                  and was able to update several sections! Search for NEW: to find them.
v1.02 01/11/98    Found that all the Transporter coordinates were reversed and fixed it.
v1.01 30/08/98    Removed a huge Dungeon spoiler, got a new provider and put the FAQ online!
v1.00 16/08/98    Finally! All (well, almost all anyway) sections are in place! More soon...
v0.9f 16/05/98    Uploaded a preliminary update due to the long wait for a final version.
v0.9e 06/05/98    New sections and new and more detailed lists.
v0.9d 22/04/98    Spellchecked the entire FAQ and made minor updates here and there.
v0.9c 21/04/98    Rewrote some old item/location lists and added some new ones.
v0.9b 19/04/98    Added some notices and requests for info where it was needed.
v0.9a 03/03/98    Added preliminary lists of all items found in The City.
v0.8b 20/02/98    Added new PacifiST and City v1.2 info, check it out!
v0.8a 05/02/98    Added two new sections describing in detail The City and The Dungeon.
v0.7a 04/02/98    Finished the emulator section with Atari ST, C64 and Apple II emus.
v0.6a 08/01/98    * Added reviews for some Amiga emulators.
                  * Waiting for new version of PacifiST to review (along with WinSTon).
                  * Waiting for info on a possible working AR C64 disk image!
v0.5a 10/12/97    I cleared up a serious problem regarding Emus, and rewrote some reviews.
v0.4b 09/12/97    Corrected and updated some information on Xl-it and Rainbow.
v0.4a 04/12/97    Added some Atari 8-bit Emulator information.
v0.3a 26/11/97    General Tips sections complete, solution for The Dungeon was added.
v0.2a 20/11/97    Some articles are added and the structure is touched up a bit.
v0.1a 16/11/97    Work on the FAQ begins, structure is laid out, not much information wise.

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1. HOW TO READ THIS FAQ!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Over the years (yes, the time flies...) the FAQ has evolved and while I've
tried to keep it well structured and logical, it's not always as easy as it sounds.

So, how should you go about finding information in this FAQ? Well, that depends on what you
are looking for, if you've already played AR or not, and how much time you have to spare.

If you have very little time, no matter if you know what AR is or not, I would recommend
you to use the built in word search feature for the program you use to view this document.
It's the fastest way to find information, and whether you are looking for information about
"smithy" or, for example "emulators", you will (most likely) score some hits.

The second fastest option is to browse by the numerical index in the beginning of this
document. If you haven't played AR before, I'd recomment you to read the initial introductory
sections to get a grip of what we are dealing with (and believe me, it's not easy in the
beginning). If you are an experienced AR player, I'd still recommend you to read the first
sections, along with the general tips sections, just to freshen your memory (and I might have
snuck one or two things in there you didn't know about before too).

The final and slowest way to read this FAQ is section by section. This will present you with
very detailed information about almost every tiny detail involving the games. Whether or not
you have played AR before, this is the way to get in-depth knowledge on how the game works
(and pherhaps too much knowledge if you're not careful).

Well, hope you'll get along with the FAQ after this, and if you have got any ideas or
additional information, please contact me via the e-mail address at the top of this document.

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2. INTRODUCTION
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Right, this is the part where I present some vague history behind this FAQ and some other
meaningless mumbo-jumbo (ie. this part is completely optional to read)...

In 1993, when my school got its first Internet connection, I decided that I wanted to create
a homepage. But I didn't want to put up some informative nonsense about myself, my pet or my
family and other similar terribly interesting stuff. So I considered other things. I wanted to
have a page that would be informative to others, but still fun for me to work with; pherhaps
something to do with some hobby of mine, or something similar. I tried a page about music, and
Terry Pratchett books, but those never got off my harddrive. Then I considered doing something
about the Ultima games, something with alot of my own artwork in it, but I soon found out that
I knew way too little about those games compared to what was already availible on the web.
I think it wasn't until I found my first Atari emulator that I remembered that "gee, I know a
hell of a lot about The City and The Dungeon", and there sure weren't any Alternate Reality
pages out there that I had found, so that was what I was going to do.

The page started off as a black and white little affair, with only a few tips and some hand
drawn maps. Then I got contacted by Gary Gilbertson (who gave me Philip Price's email address,
who I actually had to look up in the manual to understant who he was the first time) and then
Ken Jordan also got in touch. They were extremely helpful and very nice to me in their letters
(though I occasionally got a little carried away with my questions to them, which still
happens on occasion, though). Anyway, the page now took off as The Original Alternate Reality
Homepage, in full color and with new material from Philip Price, new music from Gary
Gilbertson, and graphics and information from Ken Jordan (and from Dan Pinal as well
eventually). Soon, I began hearing from fans too (more frequently than before) and I could
even say that we had something of an active AR community going on there for awhile, which is
still alive, I might happily add, though somewhat dormant.

In 1996 however, my highschool days were over and the Swedish Airforce had found a place for
me (mandatory service is required here in Sweden). I no longer had as much time to maintain
the page, and the whole AR thing was no longer just about the games, but about the emulators,
the mailing list, IRC, the new ARO game and lots of stuff about other things too (and the
letters were increasing with lots of questions now, since the emulators had gotten so good
that more and more people found the games playable on them). So I decided to write an FAQ.
It took some time after the decision to actually get it going (I hadn't done anything like it
before), but I was determined that all questions would be answered so I could get back to
playing around with my page again. So, how did I do?

2.1 WHAT IS AR?
---------------

Alternate Reality (or AR, for short) is a Computer Role Playing Game concept by Philip
Price. The first, out of a series of totally seven planned games, was released in 1985
for the Atari 800 series of computers, as a first person, 3D, non-linear CRPG.

"The AR concept is to have a virtual place to entertain yourself in and to explore,
which should be as true to real life as possible."
                                                    -PHILIP PRICE

2.1.1 WHAT IS THE CITY?
-----------------------

Alternate Reality: The City, is the first ever released AR game. It was released in 1985
for Atari's 8-bit line of computers, and it was entirely coded by Philip Price; with
music by Gary Gilbertson and graphics by Craig Skinner. It was the first in a series of
a total of seven planned games.

The City was an incredible piece of code, stretching the 48k availible to a maximum. It
featured a smooth scrolling, texture mapped, 3D graphics engine (using a mirror effect to
reduce CPU load; it only rendered the objects above the horizon, then mirrored them to the
rest of the screen, which is also what's causing some of the strange effects seen in some
emulators today), and rich 4 channel sound (using a music engine called AMP, Advanced Music
Processor, which could synch events and sound, letting Gary Gilbertson compose lyrics which
got highlited at the correct notes, something unique for a game, even today).

Four channel sound was something unique for the Atari; the C64 had only three channels
and so did the Atari ST (it wasn't until the Amiga and PC that four and more channels
were availible again). But that was not all: The famous room with the spinning stats featured
an incredible amount of 63 colors on screen at once (4 colors per line), compared to the
total of 8 colors which were normal at the time (in game graphics had roughly 45 colors
depending on what time of day it was and special locations could have over 50, and through a
palette shift, establishments gained night and day pictures as well). Needles to say, these
amazing effects weren't easily acquired, and most were lost in the translations to other
systems (which weren't handled by Philip Price).

All this made contemporary games like Mercenary (by Novagen) and Ultima (by Origin) pale
in comparison (since they only used monochrome, basic, vector line graphics). It wasn't until
Wolfenstein 3D (from Apogee Software), released seven years later, that similar graphics
were reproduced.

All this and we haven't even begun talking about gameplay! The City was the heavy weight
champion of features. You character had 6 different visible stats plus a number of hidden
ones, which all had an impact on how well your character could survive in The City.
In addition, your character had several different conditions he could be in; he or she could
get a number of different diseases which all acted differently, had different symptoms and
incubation times and were given to you by different monsters (rabies, for example, had an
incubation time of 10 days and was carried by Giant Rats and Giant Wolves) and one could even
get the character drunk (which had various funny, and some times disastrous, effects).
You also had some sort of immunity system, since certain very strong characters would not be
affected by even the deadliest poison (the red and sweet potion). Equipment picked up could
also render you cursed, which had to be removed (for a certain amount of gold) at a Guild.

As the hours went by, the sun moved accordingly in the sky, and then things would gradually
get darker. It could start raining and you could hear the wind blowing, at various strengths,
around the corners (which also made your character go freezing, if you didn't have proper
clothing on). There was even a see-through effect on the sun and the rain, created by
switching frames at a very high speed creating an illusion of transparency.

Other small details which helped to set the atmosphere was an animated falling waterfall
in the mountains beyond the city walls to the south. And whenever you got close to a Smithy,
you could hear the sound of him working on some armour or sword at his anvil (which was also
fully animated if you would go inside).

There were also alot of places to visit, ranging from Taverns (which all featured a band who
played different songs with lyrics, individual menus with prices varying from tavern to tavern,
and other small suprises which would show up from time to time) to Banks (where you could
deposite an amount of money for interest, and depending on how high interest rate you chose,
the risk of the bank getting robbed also increased). And then there were those devious doctors
who never were in when you needed them (for example, to diagnose your condition in order to be
able to treat it properly).

You encountered alot of different monsters all the time (though the nastiest would only come
out during rainy nights), all with their own graphics and a small tune to give you a clue
whether they were evil or not (the game featured about 50 different monsters). These monsters
sometimes had treasure, ranging from the standard money and jewelry, to potions and magical
weapons or armour which couldn't be found in shops.

You could also not mindlessly kill everything in sight, since killing Commoners or slaying
friendly creatures rendered you evil, and if you became evil enough, Guards would start
attacking you and you would no longer be welcomed in the various establishments.

It was a wonderful place to explore, even though it didn't have any quests at this stage.
Then of course came the 16-bit versions for Atari ST and Amiga, which had even more
features, like spell casting and the ability to finally join the guilds (though some
strategical features of Philip Price's combat system were, sadly, somewhat overly simplified).

2.1.2 WHAT IS THE DUNGEON?
--------------------------

Alternate Reality: The Dungeon (the second chapter out of the seven) revised the way we
percieved AR. The cold and very real world of The City was replaced with the brighter and
somewhat more cheerful The Dungeon (which may seem strange, since it was an even more
unfriendlier place then The City). We now had a mission and a goal to look forward to,
and an area more than twice the size of The City to explore, with more than a dozen new
locations to visit.

No longer was there a need for the mirrored 3d effect from The City to create the wall
graphics; The Dungeon was rendered with an incredible new sharpness (again, looking more
like a cartoon, than the gritty and realistic City graphics). It featured details such as
small windows in the doors, archways to cross underneath and new and amazing wall textures to
be found in secret places of The Dungeon (such as Egyptian drawings in hidden tombs and
blue icicles in a beautiful Crystal Cavern). The textures were even mip-mapped!

The menu systems and other interactive aspects were also "cleaned up" and made more user-
friendly. Disk swapping was decreased and the game could take advantage of the new 128k
systems to lessen the swapping and loading even more.

The hidden real world details of The City now became very visible and apparent, as every item
you picked up now had weight (even money), and you got very tired, very fast, if you carried
too much (and sometimes you even got immobilized). Diseases, curses and poisons rained down on
you, but there were also new and exotic weapons and items introduced (among others, a whole
range of asian weapons). You could also find magical items like scrolls, horns, wands, eyes
and cards. There were even unique magically "sentient" weapons who screamed at you when you
picked them up, and summoned hoardes of monsters to try to set it free.

Combat, although featuring a similar simplified menu system like the 16-bit versions of
The City, was also taken to new heights, were you could face multiple enemies, each with their
own set of inventory items or spells they could use. Some could even call for help or had
other specialities (like Gnomes who you could peacefully talk to, and who then suddenly hit
you for fun). You could also be struck down (and then rise again), get stunned (and become
unable to act for a turn or two) and your weapon could be hurled from your grasp. And monsters
were also affected by these new features, and could be struck down or stunned (giving you time
to either aim or charge).

Interaction was also improved; you could now give items to those in need, and get response
from them, just as others would give you small hints or items (or demand them, like the
Thieves). You could also buy services from wandering Healers, get help from fellow Guild
members, and if a Ronin didn't like your looks, you knew you were in trouble.

Alignment was also refined, where every monster now could be either evil, netral or good.
New ways of improving alignment was also introduced, and it was no longer just down to
what monster you killed or didn't kill.

Guild wars made an appearance in a small way; when you joined a guild, you instantly
became enemy with another opposite guild, who's members would taunt you in combat
(though, of course, you also gained you fellow guild members as allies). The Thieves' Guild
was especially active, since they could either send Assassins after you if you had killed
too many Thieves, or break you out of jail if you got into trouble.

An interesting point to be made is that while most of the songs in The City was about
wanting to go home, the songs of The Dungeon were more relaxed and invited you to
enjoy and explore while you were there, creating yet another gap between the harshness
of The City and more adventure friendly place of The Dungeon.

All in all, The Dungeon has an incredible amount of depth and detail, and I would easily
dare to say that both the Alternate Reality games probably are the most detail rich games
ever, since even today, more than 15 years after its initial release, people (including
me) are discovering new hidden secrets, things, features and aspects that nobody has
discovered before.

2.2 ABOUT THE AUTHORS OF THE GAMES
----------------------------------

Philip Price and Gary Gilbertson created the Alternate Reality concept back in 1984.
They had done one other games together earlier, The Tail of Beta Lyrae (which featured
enemies who "evolved" over time), and had plans for one other; F.A.C.E of The Galaxy, which
was going to be a space combat and trading simulation game where there was planned to have a
fully alive universe, in which the player could interact and affect various events. They both
lived in Hawaii and created their games under the name Paradise Programming.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF GARY GILBERTSON

After 1986, when the AR escapades with Datasoft ended, Philip Price went to work on the B2
Stealth Bomber for the US Airforce. He has also worked for Creative Labs as a 3d consultant.
Gary Gilberston has toured with various bands on Hawaii (with Chuck Berry amongst others).

Noteworthy is also that Philip Price is/was a member of the ANSI C++ standards committee.

The other two main authors, Ken Jordan and Dan Pinal, who did most of the work on The
Dungeon for Datasoft back in 1985, has since then worked together at a company called
Mass Media (and Dan Pinal makes a noteworthy appearance in the credits of Wings,
a very famous game from Cinemaware), which still today ports games to various systems.

Another interesting point to be made, is that one of the artists on Alternate Reality:
The Dungeon, Bonita Long-Hemsath (Reid), today is an art director for New World Computing
and creates art for the beautiful Might & Magic series of games.

2.3 THE HISTORY OF THE GAMES
----------------------------

The absolutely most frequently asked question is "what happened to the rest of the games
in the series". Out of a total of seven planned games, only two of them were ever made.
Below is a compact version of a very long and difficult story (kept short by the request
of the authors) which will hopefully shed some light on the answer:

The first Alternate Reality game was The City for the Atari 8-bit line of computers,
released early in 1985. It was a result from a joint effort by publisher company Datasoft
and Paradise Programming (Philip Price and Gary Gilbertson). But, it was under a company
named Marsten Systems, a year earlier, that Philip Price made his initial work on the game,
which featured The City and The Dungeon as one game. However, Marsten systems wanted a
game out fast, and had The City and The Dungeon split into two games. And, when The City
was not completed on schedule, Marsten turned it over to Datasoft.

However, the contract Philip Price signed with Datasoft allowed them to charge 100% of
conversion costs from his 7.5% of the net profits. Datasoft took longer time to convert
The City to each different platform than it took Philip Price to write the original game,
and so, he never saw any money (except small advances while writing his version) and was
forced to leave the business to seek an income elsewhere (in that process, a Philip Price
coded version of The Dungeon, which was about 50% complete, was lost).

Philip Price left his concept and ideas behind to Ken Jordan and Dan Pinal (employed by
Datasoft, which also by this time, went by the name Intellicreations). Using conceptual
documents and hand written notes by Gary Gilbertson taken during questioning sessions with
Philip Price, they were able to continue developing the series, and after 18 months release
Alternate Reality: The Dungeon for the Atari 8-bits (with music from Gary Gilbertson,
working from Hawaii, and graphics by Bonita Long-Hemsath, an inhouse Datasoft artist).
A C64 version of The Dungeon followed along with a conversion of The City (in the late 1985).

Plans for the third installment, Alternate Reality: Arena, which would deviate from the 3D
first person perspective and let you see your own character for the first time, were outlined,
but by now, the 8-bit market was declining and Datasoft were in financial trouble. Software
Toolworks then stepped in and bought Datasoft, and told Ken Jordan and Dan Pinal to work on
the 16-bit ports of The Dungeon from home. They got as far as a 70% complete version before
they both got layed off. Software Toolworks didn't have much faith in the CRPG market, and
decided to not wait any longer for The Dungeon to be finished.

Thus the only games that ever made it to the public of the original Alternate Reality
game series were the following:

Alternate Reality: The City for the Atari 8-bit computers
	Commodore 64 port of The City
	Apple II port of The City           (?? version)
	Machintosh port of The City         (?? version)
	Atari ST version of The City        (16-bit version)
	Amiga version of The City           (16-bit version)
	PC port by The City (not made by any of the original authors) (16-bit version)
	
Alternate Reality: The Dungeon for the Atari 8-bit computers
	Commodore 64/128 port of The Dungeon
	Apple II port of The Dungeon

Today, all copyrights for Alternate Reality has reverted back to Philip Price.

-INFORMATION COURTESY OF PHILIP PRICE, GARY GILBERTSON, KEN JORDAN AND DAN PINAL

2.4 THE COMPLETE PLANS FOR AR
-----------------------------

Even though not all of the planned games were ever released, many people remember vaguely
about the other games since they were mentioned alot in the documentation for The City and
The Dungeon and newsletters from Datasoft. So I've obtained a complete rundown on these
games written by Philip Price, (parts which are from previously confidential material),
so you can really know what they were going to be about:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue Jan 02, 1990
from Philip Price
 
  Okay since I am a notorious procastinator. I will give a brief outline of
what was the main parts of AR as originally conceived.

  The idea behind AR was a place to entertain but also to  enlighten/educate
oneself. I desired to have as realistic of a world possible, but still a world
that was filled with the unknown. I knew I couldn't do it in one product so I
plan to develope it through a series.

  City/Dungeon (Something originally planned as one)

You are thrust into a new enviroment and have to first learn to survive.
You have to learn to discern to a certain degree. Free will is of course
permitted, monsters and people react to your moral decision. Traps are laid
both physical, mental and moral. Multiple ways to resolve problems are
avaiable. The first clues to why things are the way they are are given.
[Further details on the clues I will disclose further in this letter].

  Arena

Original game would be patched to add slaver bands (you could be shang-hi'ed
into the arena amongst other ways in). [Original game meaning City/Dungeon].
The arena would permit combatting your characters against other peoples
characters or against computer run characters. The ultimate goal if you had
been abducted would be to regain your freedom, if you are free then it
would be to gain nobility and a title. A choice would be given if this was
accomplished that would retire that character to a life of luxury [and
boredom].

  Palace

Palace intrigue and the ability to modify the city layout. You could climb
the ladder to greater power and responsibility, wielding it as you saw best or
worst. Again if you climbed to the pinnacle you had a option to retire the
character to a life of luxury, power and the thrill of trying to stay one step
ahead of future wouldbe kings.

(To become king you have to defeat the current king which at first is a
computer character, though once overthrown or disposed/killed/poisoned etc. it
would be someone else, possible a player character [retired].)

  Wilderness

The wilderness would be the start of a pilgrimage to find the
truth of AR. There would be traps, tricks to waylay the adventure and to turn
him from his or hers true quest.

  Revelation

Hidden in the depths of a cave behind the immense waterfall that
can be seen even from the city is a metallic door requiring a pass card to
enter. Once open it reveals corridors gleaming with technology far beyond our
own. Further investigation reveals a room that has immense windows/portals and
a view, a view into space.

  Destiny

Fighting with high tech equipment (from both revelation, destiny and
if  you run into the aliens that politically are friendly to you plight, the
weapons the riddler has from the dungeon). Searching further this immense ship
you discover a chamber filled with metal cocoons. Using wit and knowledge gain
through other locations you decipher the controls and the display. You learn
that these cocoons hold bodies, the bodies of all of those captured. The
machines keep the bodies physically alive and fit, but imprisoned. The minds
of those entrapped are tapped and fed with images. The ships computer can even
permit the images to interact with solid/material components of the ship. You
are an image. What is reality? You body lies in a cocoon. Your mind sees what
the image sees. What is a soul? What is experience? You experience, you feel
what this image you have been controlling since you kidnapping feels. Again
there are choices to make. In the end you are left with many choices, continue
to live in you image body, a nearly immortal life, but knowning that these
aliens have done this to you and can watch, feel, experience whatever you do
whenever they want. You are their entertainment. They have become jadded by
luxury, power and knowledge and use lesser beings to regain some of the
passions of life. You can cut off this channel, though they may also destroy
the ship, or earth. You can escape in a smaller ship than the entertainment
world and go back to earth (hoping to evade the future capture ships these
beings send to gain more 'entertainment'. You could destroy the planet [and
hope that they are not a multiplanet race] You can take the entertainment
world (that was orbitting the alien's planet) and bring it back to earth to let
the scientist learn from it [and hope the aliens don't trace it]. You could
blackmail the aliens. You could sell out humanity. You could try to bluff
them. There are many choices, life isn't easy and some of the most important
decision are the hardest to find a best answer in.

   There were other details I haven't gotten into here (Like a lot of the fun
things to do in each scenerio other than the main plots). And there were/are a
lot of little details to be left until the scenerio each were to be produced.
But from this you can see the main plot and the main suprises that were
originally planned.

               Take Care,
               Phil P.S.

  I think I have mentioned this before... For Atari 8 bit City owners if you
type fiat as you character name (while holding down the control key) you get
into another menu which allows some game changes. The only command I remeber
from  it allows changing the speed of the numbers spinning by before you walk
through the portal. The command is cela saute aux yeux. I hope I spelled that
right.

Acrinimiril's gate was a portal into a true parallel universe. Acrinimiril
was/is a being from another universe, who had a habit of adventuring/travelling
into many dimensions and universes and getting himself into heaps of trouble.
He was a complete unknown to the aliens and caused them all sorts of problems.
For one since he wasn't run from the computer, he was not traceable. Also he had
a lot of experience in these situations. Unfortunantly he wasn't always very
bright about keeping a low enough profile. And after killing an alien (and
getting its passcard) the aliens were then able to trace him and finally entrap
him for further study. Not all aliens were for this 'entertainment', and there
was planned to have ways to resolve the ultimate questions through interaction
with these aliens also. And it was also was going to be allowed to go through
acrinimirils gate into other universes at destiny's end.

----------------------------------------------------- End of Phil's message

Advantages of having City Disk and Quest Logic within Dungeon
      - IN WHOLE OR PART... NOT FOR AR NEWSLETTER USE -

It is our intention to allow people to play the Dungeon without owning the
City. However, it is also our intention to make owning the City an extremely
advantegous to seccess and enjoyment of the AR series. To this end, the
Dungeon shall have the following "goal/reward" features.

Life in the Dungeon will be very difficult for characters created in the
Dungeon. To truly make progress one should introduce an experienced
character from the City.

As we discussed, the Dungeon will be more goal or quest oriented. You must
make it to the forth level of the Dungeon, along the way encountering the
various "one time only" monsters and of coarse finding the special treasure
rooms. In the forth level of the Dungeon you will encounter one of the
actual Aliens. Now Aliens carry a type of beam weapon that is more than a
match for anything you might have. Consequently, the encounter will end
with your demise.

There will be, however, a way to change this rather dim scenario. Be sure
to find ALL the "one time only" treasure rooms. Be sure to defeat all the
"one time only" monsters. Doing this will trigger the possibility to
acquire a rather unusual object, "...lest with you've brought that which to
come...". The item is a Portal Acces Card (PAC). This card will be in the
possession of a very special Wizard* somewhere on the forth level. After
rescueing him/doing him a favor, he will offer you a choice of rewards. All
of the choises save one will be of obvious value, (gold - jewels etc.).
The unusual choice will be a white plastic like card. Those that choose
the white card will find they possess a modified "PAC", the best ticket
available to Revelation. Now, it will be possible to obtain a PAC in the
Wilderness. The advantage, however, of securing the Dungeon PAC is this:
It has been modified to jam the Alien Security Systems Entity Monitering
capabilities. With this card in your possession, you can not be
electronically tracked by Alien Security. Knowing this, you can see how
your encounter with the Alien at the far reaches of level four could be
different. Alien Security would be unable to alert him of you approach. You
would have the element od suprise working for you and this time you may well
survive the encounter. Once the Alien's out of the way, further exploration
will lead you to a doorway at the end of a hall. Passing through this door
you will be asked to insert: "the REVELATION DISK".

Passing into REVELATION from the Wilderness is easier than from the Dungeon.
The Dungeon entrance connects to a maintenance area of the Alien's ship.
It is always crowses; encounters are frequent and death is common.
The Wilderness on the other hand has a portal that connects to a part of the
ship that is rarely used and out of the way. This gives the character a
chance to orient himself and possibly find the tools necessary for survival
in this realm. If he has added advantage of the Dungeon PAC... well he'll
have it just that much easier. However, as explained on the block diagrams,
the entrance to Revelation will be advantegous later in the series.

*VERY SPECIAL WIZARD
The Wizard's name is Acrinimiril. Those with extensive knowledge of Xebec
will recognize the name as the same given to a gate on the NW quadrant.
The significance of... the events leading to... etc. will be explained soon.

---

Entries pertaining to the "Acrinimiril affair" as logged by:
The ASSISTANT to the SPECIAL AGENT in CHARGE [EED][8944839]
XEBEC SECURITY
1400 day3 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
<<<<< I have just been notified by Dungeon Four Maintenance
Techinician [3257858], that the fatally injured body of Equipment
Designer [3292000], has been located in the system. Awaiting
Furhter information. >>>>>.....[EED].............................

1423 day3 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
<<<<< The Death of Equipment Designer [3292000], has been
confirmed. The cause of death has been attributed to spell
casting. [3292000] was most likely killed by a character in the
system. Having the computer reconstruct area traffic during the
period and from there will plot the whereabouts of the killer.
As [3292000]'s PAC has not been found, I am posting double guards
at all Dungeon Portals. >>>>>.....[EED]..........................

1655 day3 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
<<<<< Completed interview of Dungeon Four Maintenance
Techinician [3257858]. He informed me that [3292000] was play
existing as a champion in the system. I'm also told that the PAC
he carried was modified with a sensor jammer. This explains why
the recent computer report did not even show [3292000] to be in
the area. I must now assume the killer is in possession of a so-
to-speak cloaking device. Security has been notified to program a
map/scan/plot of singular character death activity. If i cannot
scan for this killer pherhaps I can plot his movements by the
deaths of his victims. >>>>>.....[EED]...........................

2000 day3 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
The computer has failed to turn up any prime suspects in the
[3292000] killing. I have ordered the sensor cross check
monitering of all traffic in or out of the Fourth Level. I am
proceeding on the assumption that our killer has yet to leave the
area. A similar sensor cross check has been ordered for traffic
in and out of the Sanctuary on Level Four. >>>>>.....[EED].......

2345 day3 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
I have just been informed that a Wizard has entered the Level
Four Sanctuary without sensor confirmation. His present
geographic location has been fed to the computer for entity
analysis. This is no doubt our killer, I have requested further
instructions from XEBEC COMMAND. >>>>>.....[EED].................

2351 day3 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
I've been ordered, {XCO-MAC213\RN4321}, by XEBEC COMMAND to
terminate the killer Wizard and recover the modified PAC as soon
as he leaves Sancturary. >>>>>.....[EED].........................

2353 day3 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
Results of computer analysis indicate Wixard in question is not
of this system. Word of this and the complete analysis have been
sent to XEBEC COMMAND. Termination order {XCO-MAC213\RN4321}
has been recalled... will continue monitor suspect.

0028 day4 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
Received word from XEBEC COMMAND that the Wizard'c Character name
is Acriminiril. He first became in the system of the CAROLINUS.
COMMAND is unsure as to how he managed to appear in the XEBEC
system. COMMAND also indicates that his being of elsewhere is
what made sensor scan impossible and sees no reason to belive he
is [3292000]'s killer. While COMMAND checks with the CAROLINUS,
I've been ordered, {XCO-MAC213\RRN4324}, to dispatch a
Securityman with a GLFU, (Geographic Location Freeze Unit), to
Level Four. After Acrinimiril clears the vicinity of the
Sanctuary, the Srcurityman is to follow him until he moves to a
low traffic area. At such time he is to activate the unit and
maintain Acrinimiril in "geofreeze" until COMMAND can confer
with the CAROLINUS. >>>>>.....[EED]..............................

1211 day4 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
Acrinimiril has left Sancturay and is on the move. Securityman
[3256679], disguised as a Mage is following Acrinimiril awaiting
the order to engage the GLFU. >>>>>.....[EED]....................

1248 day4 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
As of this moment Acrinimiril is in "geofreeze" on level Four at
location =d4-28|05=. The search for [3292000]'s killer
continues. >>>>>.....[EED].......................................

1700 day4 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
Guard post on Acrinimiril reports he's retained his ability to
speak although deep in "geofreeze". Curious. Have dispatched a
team to Sanctuary on Level One to conduct sensor cross check on
traffic there. It would appear our killer is moving back toward
the City. >>>>>.....[EED]........................................

=================================================================
The SPECIAL AGENT'S Log contained many more entries over the
day and a half period covered above. Had he known what
ultimately would happen in the Acrinimiril affair, he probably
would have started his report with the the following entry that
had appeared a couple of days erlier.
=================================================================

1631 day2 THE LAST FALL shipyear 39 >>>>>........................
Sensors indicate the first humanoids from the Planet Earth, (1186)
are starting to move into Level Four of the Dungeon.

                          =========

Acrinimiril's Own Story

It is true, I am not of Xebec. I became here, after I became elsewhere.
I see, however, no reason to dwell on the before. Xebec is the now and
the now must be your concern.

To recount my experiences in the city streets of Xebec would be of
little value. I would comment, however, it was during this time I realised
that when I became here my powers were greater than when I became elsewhere.

As soon as I found the way I entered the Dungeon. It was there, while on
the fourth level, that I first saw the creatures that control the here.
Now, as time passed I came to realize I had a power unlike anyone of Xebec.
These creatures acted as though they where totally unaware of my presence.
I'd watch as other life forms would attempt to sneak up behind a creature;
at the last moment the creature would spin around and terminate the
attacker with a kind of pulsing light weapon. They had no chance at all.
At first, I too though myself to be at the mercy of these creatues.
Then I had a near encounter with one where it should have sensed my approach.
I had just rounded a corner and there one was. It was looking in the other
direction, cut I was very close... I could've touched the thing. I did not belong
here and apparently these creatures sensors are not programmed to pick
me up. They have to actually see me to sense my presence.
Although I found it comforting to ponder this nre hypothesis,
I could see no reason for testing it.

Days later I came upon a most unusual situation. I saw a Champion appearing
to carry a conversation with one of the controller creatures. He was obviously
unafraid and made no attempt to escape. Stranger yet, the controller
creature kept his weapon harnessed. Having encountered numerous Champions,
I decided to follow this one after the meeting came to an end.
I had followed him for a good distance when my curiosity could stand no more.
I had to talk to this humanoid. Quickening my pace to close in on his
position, I called to him. To my suprise he swung around and came at me with
his sword raised high. I dearly wanted to speak with him, but I was not going
to die trying. When it was over I stood over his lifeless body whishing our
encounter had been friendly. I decided to search him for clues.
To my amazement he had no money at all. Here he was in the 4th level without a
copper piece to his name. then I found a most curious object. A flat white
card about half the size of a humanoid hand. It was unlike anything I'd ever
seen. I put it with my things and prepared to remover the champion's
headgear. The wearing of jeweled earring was not an uncommon practise
and I'd yet to find anything of value to this character.
As I pulled the helmet from his head I jumped back in suprise.
You see, inside this champion's armor was a controller creature.

Instantly my mind filled with answers to why this so-called Champion was
speaking with an Alien and why he refused my frienfly advances.
Such thoughts, however lasted for mere seconds. They were quickly
replaced with the reakization that this deed would not go unnoticed.
I sprang to my feet and began to quickly move of the scene.
I wanted to put as much distance possible between me and the...

As I neared the stairway up to Level Three rational thought began to return.
I knew I would need to seek the Sanctuary soon. Eventually the effects
of weariness catch up with everyone. I would have to woek my way to
Sanctuary on Level One or remain here on Four. I reasoned that if they had
the power to find me, they would find me on One just as easy as on Four.
As I turned to leave, I noticed two mages appearing ro rake up guard on each side
of the stairway. I would have though nothing of it except that one rarely
sees Mages moving about in pairs and I'd never heard of them being employed
as guards.

About four hours had passed before I rounded a corner and stood at the
entrance to Level Four Sanctuary. As I opened the door the sound
of story telling and laughter filled my ears.
Blending into the crowded room I could feel tension leaving my body.
I really did feel safe here. It really felt like Sanctuary.

After resting a number of hours I moved back through the noisy main hall.
Nothing had changed, it was as though the same party was in progress.
I left Sanctuary telling myself thegreat truths would be found by probing
deeper into Dungeon. The events of yesterday should be forgotten.

I... I can speak, but I cannot... seem to move. A mage has put some kind
of spell on me. I don't un-der-stand. He is nearby holding some kind
of box. He won't... speak to me. I can't move.

I've lost track of time, Occasionally the Mage seems to leave. Just when
I think he is gone for good, he reappears. I have to come to the conclusion
that my predicament is the work of the controller creatures.
Nothing else makes any sense at all. I am totally helpless in a kind of
cage that is exactly one square building unit in size. My jailer has made
no move to touch me. In fact he has gone out of his way to prevent anyone from
touching me. He has not attempted to search me for treasure... nothing!
This has got to be some sort of punishment for killing that controller.

I have a plan for escape. Should a character pass by during the time the
controller is gone, I will plead with them to try and touch me.
I have the feeling that once the cell membrane is penetrated it will
collapse. I wait patiently for my escape. I will offer a rich reward for
helping me escape. I wait patiently. I'll give them anything I have.
I wait...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
3. PLAYING THE GAMES
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Alot of detailed instructions and very good tips can be found in the Manuals for
The City and The Dungeon and the Guidebooks for The City and The Dungeon (availible
transcribed at the home location of this document).

The following information will deal mainly with issues that are not mentioned in either the
manuals or the guidebooks.

3.1 GENERAL TIPS FOR THE CITY
-----------------------------

The City is a very hard game. You should back up your character disk as described in
the manuals and cluebooks very often, (in the beginning, backing up after each succesful
combat is a very good and safe thing to do), so you don't loose your character. Let's start
from the very beginning:

When you are at the portal with the spinning stats, there are some things you should know
in order to figure out what stats you want to keep an eye on. Naturally, Hit Points should
always be a priority, even though these increases alot with levels, since you tend to take
alot of damage on early levels too. Anything (and this goes for all stats) under 10 is not
very good. Strength increases with combat, and you will do alot of that, so if you want,
you can chance skipping a few points there. If you want to buy a dagger or something, you
should try to keep you money above about 150 coppers too.

Finally, the scrolling stats go faster the longer you wait (you might say it's an incentive
to avoid procrastination).
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF PHILIP PRICE

After you have passed through the portal, a number of hidden stats will also be set. The
physical speed can immideately be found out by visiting The Blue Wizards guild at 18E, 47N
(they will raise your Speed by 1 and also tell you how much you've got). Noticeability can
also be figured out by the number of monster encounters you receive. If these are painfully
high, you probably have a high noticeability too. There is also a stealth stat which
determines whether you can suprise a monster or not. This will have to be estimated in
the same way as the noticeability (and though it can be increased at Assassins Guild at 55E,
2N, they don't tell you how much it is).

There are also two hidden stats that start with set numbers. The Alignment stat, which
starts at 127 (0 being evil, and 255 being good) and the Treasure Finding stat which
starts at 0. You can, however, find treasure anyway, so don't worry. Also, according to
the cluebooks, the treasure stat can only be raised by potions, after wich it decreases
as normal when you have found treasure. I don't know how gaining levels affect this stat
(alignment does not go up with levels).

So, now you are in The City of Xebec's demise. Anything can happen now. If you want buy
that dagger, find your way to Occum's Weaponsmiths at 19E, 32N, as your chance to find one
at an affordable price is highest there (haggle if you want to, but he will throw you out
if you make an "outrageous offer"). Remember that more nasty monsters comes out if it rains,
and that chances of you getting suprised by one is higher near doors.

Have in mind whether you want to play evil or good; there is NO way in The City to increase
you alignment once you've commited an evil act. Killing Commoners is evil, but they are easy
prey in the beginning and have more money than some other monsters (see the Cluebook for
a list of evil monsters, and note the music for unlisted ones). Muggers are easy prey
for good characters in the beginning, having around 13 Hit Points and giving about
75 Experience. Also, if you dare to venture out at night, Gremlins are just as easy (if not
easier) and almost always carry treasure. Beware for Thieves or Cutthroats though, and
Warriors or Knights who will kill you at an instant (or mug you and then kill you if you
try to run away).

Other monsters which can be defeated on the first couple of levels are Giant Rats, Gnolls
and Orcs.

As you will notice, money is initially vital. The cheapest place to sleep is Sleeping Dragon
Inn at 60E, 6N where the common floor costs 5 coppers. And at The Tavern (20E, 62N accesible
through the far northwest city wall) you can even get free water, which actually costs a
couple of coppers in other taverns. Food packets and Water flasks are sold randomly at the
taverns across town, and are consumed automatically in The City.

You should also learn how to quickly get to the two hospitals in The City, since living for
a long time with a disease, if not fatal, still may have a permanent damaging effect on
your stats.

Sleeping is also very important, since if you are tired for a long time, you will start to
loose alot of stamina, and then the other stats will also start to fall.

After your first level or two, you should backup your character and go potion hunting. Potions
are the only way you can cast spells on yourself with in The City, and if you dare to gamble
a bit, you can end up with Protection, Invulnerability and pherhaps even Treasure Finding
boosts which will enable you to find magical weapons or armor! (Remember that you can also
get permanent stat boosts from potions.)

The Cluebooks also warns you about entering Banks after year one. This is a known bug. The
code lacks a line which stops the banks from counting months after the year ends, so what
happens is that the game calculates interest (and failures) for months 12-255 until it reaches
month 0 again (which is quite alot of calculations for an Atari computer). So either,
if you're extremely lucky, you will have received 243 months of rent, or more likely, your
accounts have failed and you've lost all your money (ie. it's best to withdraw all your money
in the month of Lights).
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF PHILIP PRICE

A final note: As stated in the cluebook, if you disengage from a monster, it may steal from
you. However, what it doesn't say is that EVERYONE will steal from you. No matter what
monster it is, there is a very good chance that it will take you money! (Trust me, I've
seen Commoners, Ghosts and even Knights steal, and the first thing they nag is all your
gems and jewelry.) Food packets and water flasks can also be stolen, in addition to
valuables.

3.1.1 COMBAT, EXPERIENCE AND LEVELS
-----------------------------------

In addition to what has been said in the general tips, and what is written in the cluebook
and manual, there are some hidden features which has been, until now, undocumented.
Some of the more experienced players may know that a character's strength may increase
during a fight. The secret behind this feature has now been revealed and it is startling.
The strength increase is infact a part of what may be the first ever skill based character
improvement system in a computer role playing game!

Here is how the system works. Every time you carry out a succesful roll on a "skill"
(attacks, trick or charm) you get an increase of 1/255 of a full stat point. Get 255
more succesful rolls and you get the full one point increase of your stat. This works
for attack, lunge, parry, which increases strength; trick, which increases intelligence;
and charm which increases charisma.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF MARK WIECZOREK

Another thing with combat is the disengaged and engaged menus. Engaging doesn't count as
an evil act, and if you want to stay good, you must take the first hit before attacking,
something which you can't always afford. And when you encounter good monster, do watch
those menus as the L key can be both (L)eave and (L)unge and pressing that last key by
mistake can produce very frightening effects if you encounter the wrong monster.

Another important factor is experience. The exact way in which you acquire experience is
the following. You get 1 experience for each 1 point of damage you inflict on an opponent.
You get a (fixed?) amount of experience for killing your opponent. You get 1 point of
experience for each Silver and 10 points for each Gold you find (finding Coppers doesn't
earn you any Experience Points). You get 120 experience for finding a Potion, 255 for each
Jewel and 128 points for each Gem. There doesn't seem to be any experience given for finding
weapons and armor (even magical ones).

I have tried to put together a chart describing level gains and experience points, however,
this has been done by trial & terror so these are only estimated numbers:

Level   Experience

  1       250
  2       500
  3       1,200
  4       2,400
  5       4,700
  6       9,300
  7       15,100

I will fill this table in with more numbers as my character grows in strength.

3.1.2 LIST OF MONSTERS IN THE CITY
----------------------------------

*** IMPORTANT NOTICE: *********************************************************************

Monsters have a number of abilities tied to them: Day or night appearences, good or evil,
chance of treasure, amount of experience and hit points, attack strength and so on. The
exact value, or nature, of these abilities are currently unknown, and though research is
being made, progress may be slow. If you think you posess enough knowledge to be of
assistance, please contact me via the e-mail address at the top of this document.

*******************************************************************************************

Monsters and their attacks:

Wizard  Novice  Archmage  Mage
  a weak spell
  a spell
  a enchantation
  a strong spell
  a dazzling spell
  a over-powering spell
Giant Rat
  it's foaming teeth        (rabies)
  it's yellow claws
Giant Wolf
  it's sharp teeth          (rabies)
  it's claws
Night Stalker
  it's claws
  it's blood sucking fangs  (-2 strength)
Specter
  moans
  janges invisible chains
  festering touch
  soul wrenching grasp      (LEVEL DRAIN!!!)
Apprentice  Acolyte
  weak spell
  spell
Merchant  Courier
  long dagger
  short sword
Gremlin
  it's claws
  it's teeth
Black Slime
  acidic slime
  corrosive goo
  nauseating gunk           (slimed)
Skeleton
  sickle
Imp
  it's claws
  it's poisoned tail
Wraith
  crushing blow
  bone-chilling scream
Brown Mold
  burst of spores
Zombie
  loses piece of flesh
  strangle hold             (gangrene)
Ghoul
  claw                      (gangrene?)
  sword
Assasin  Weapnsmaster
  poisoned shri-ken
  strangling wire
  poisoned dagger
  nanchucks
  longsword
  sword
Troll
  large knurly club
  claw
  teeth
  IT REGENERATED            (regenerates)
Ghost
  let's out a heart-breaking moan
  bolt of lightning
  bone chilling touch
Orc
  short wavy sword
Small Green Dragon
  it's claws
  it's teeth
  it's tail
  a scorching breath of fire
Guard
  greatsword
Dwarf
  sharpsword
Gnoll
  a dagger
Master Thief  Brigand  Mugger  Thief  Cutthroat  Robber
  sword
  switchblade
  shortsword
  dagger
Pauper
  bare hands
Nobleman
  magical sword
Commoner
  dagger
Hobbit
  shortsword
Giant
  war hammer
Goblin
  siletto
  shortsword
Champion  Gladiator  Fighter  Warrior  Swordsman  Knight
  sword
  longsword
  greatsword

-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JIM NORRIS

3.2 GENERAL TIPS FOR THE DUNGEON
--------------------------------

The Dungeon is, in my humble opinion, much easier than The City (even though Ken Jordan
disagrees). First of all, you get much higher stats in the beginning of the game. Second,
there is a newbie area where you start with virtually no dangerous monsters at all. Third,
if you know where to go, you can find killer weapons right from the beginning.

The money is also of less importance here, since food packets and water flasks are cheap at
the Damon and Phytias Shoppe (46E, 59N) and you can offer any amount of coppers you wish
at the Reatreat (55E, 60N) for a cheap rest. (You can also sell loot from monsters at the
Dwarven Smithy on the second floor, but be sure you have joined a Guild first to get rid of
any curses the items may bestow upon you.) Granted that you need money to learn new spells and
charge your ring at a Guild, but by the time you get that far, you should have little trouble
finding the right monsters to loot for plenty of gold.

There is also another great thing in The Dungeon, namely Crystals and Wands! A Healing Wand
is worth its weight in gold, since it heals more efficiently than any healing spell, and
never fails. Wands uses Crystals which can be found on Humunculi and Salamanders (and others),
or they can be spawned by The Star (which 20 Crystals for each card). Also, by comparison,
if you charge your Guild Ring with a Crystal (which gives you 10 Charges, just enough for
a Healing spell) you'll get about 10 Hit Points (or a backfire) compared to the Healing Wand's
40 or so (with no backfire risk, though it'll break if you run out of Crystals).

A nice shopping tip in the beginning is to buy a couple of torches at the D&P. However,
buy them one at a time, leaving and then going back inside, between each purchase. The reason
is that Omar & Jeff like people that buy instead of window shop and remember this. Buy as
many pieces of Leather Armor you can too, using the same method. You will find that their
starting prices will be getting better.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL

Another sneaky way of getting money is to haggle at the D&P and buy alot of cheap weapons,
which can then be sold for a higher price at the Dwarven Smithy on the second floor (granted,
there's a risk that you may die on the way down, but if you know your ways around the dungeon,
the journey doesn't need to be very far).
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JASON FREAR

One of the easiest ways to get a good start is to wield a torch as a primary weapon (it has
Blunt and Fire damage which is good against Molds and Slimes) and then make your way southeast
to the secret area containing the Razor Ice (61E, 23N) which is one of the best weapons in the
game, making both Sharp and Cold (magical) damage. And if you make it back to the Well Lighted
Area (watch out for disease spreading Rats in the sewers on the way) you can kill almost
anything (including the Wraith at 60E, 58N which will be affected by the Cold damage). Also,
if you drop and then get the Razor Ice, but without readying it, and then enter the room at
51E, 59N you'll encounter a Doppleganger, which you then can defeat by using the Razor Ice in
the middle of combat (since the Doppleganger will then still use his bare hands).

If you are feeling ballsy, you could also go for the Saurian Brandy and Golden Apple while at
level 0. Chug the brandy while you're next to the Retreat and sleep it off. The +8 Stamina
will get you more Hit Points every time you go up a level.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL

The Golden Apple isn't actually that hard to get, and a very important item is right next to
it; the Whetstone, at 31E, 62N, which is used to repair weapons which are about to break.

A difference from The City when it comes to monsters, is that you don't get much by slaying
Paupers or Apprentices, compared to the Commoners in The City (if you want to play Evil that
is). Paupers will fight for their lives, and can be very tough (also watch out for the Shaolin
Monks who looks like paupers but who "strikes with a hardened fist"), and Apprentices carry
only cursed weapons which you shouldn't pick up until you have joined a Guild.

Another difference in combat is also the Experience distribution system, which only gives you
half of the dealt damage in Experience Points, rather than The City's full.

If you encounter a very strong or very skilled foe, it might disarm you, which leaves your
weapon on the ground. However, if that foe flees, the weapon will be lost! To avoid this from
happening, always use the Temporal Fugue spell (learned from Ozob in the Palace Prison) which
will temporarily instill you with lightning speed and enable you to pick up your weapon.

As in The City, if you go to sleep while being diseased, you may suffer permanent stat
reductions, as if you go to sleep while being poisoned, the damaging effects are accelerated.

Also, don't kill Healers when playing Evil. There are only three wandering Healers in the
entire game. There is a freelancing one and there are two employed by the Physicians Guild
(working day and night shifts). If you kill them you will get Assassins after you with a
"greetings from a friend" message. Heirophant Cards will still work though.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL

Evil characters will take alot of beating from both good and evil monsters, so it is well
advisable to wear Hit Point restoring equipment, such as the Bloodstone (all lost Hit Points
restored every 24 hours), Junai's Sword (two Hit Points per hour) and Morgana's Tiara (four
lost Hit Points per hour). As you'll notice, the Bloodstone and Junai's Sword are, in fact,
evil items.

Bribery was supposed to be a way for Evil characters to get out of combat since they have way
more hostile encounters than good characters. Thus, there are several ways to bribe your way
out of engagements with undesireable foes. Guards can be bribed if you offer is high enough
(based on your level and the number of Guards encountered). Zombies may leave you along if you
offer them a corpse to much on. Also try giving Water Flasks to Water Sprites.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL

You have probably noticed by now that alignment affects more things in The Dungeon than in
The City. You can lower your alignment in the usual manner, but there are also a number of
ways to raise it. For a full list of all the known ways to modify alignment, please refer to
section 6.5.

If you could manage to become incredibly good (it is unconfirmed, but you probably need an
Alignment of 255), you would be invited to the Chapel Sanctuary where you were offered
free food and sleep, and also got a weapon called ST. Percival's Mace and the spell Dispel
Evil (worth 50%). Note that you can only use the mace if you remain good, otherwise it will
scream at you ("I was meant for better than you!") and drain your Hit Points.

In The Dungeon, luckily, monsters act a bit more intelligent than in The City. Only certain
monsters steal from you here, and it is also monsters you expect to be stealing who does it.
A note of warning though: If you get anything stolen, or even if you drop anything (if your
weapon is hurled from your grasp) during combat, and the foe escapes, it will be lost! The
only way to retrieve it will be if you are lucky enough to find a Master Thief who carries
the item.

You also won't be needing to fight all monsters. In addition to bribery, mentioned above,
some monsters will initiate transactions with YOU (instead of the other way around). You
will be offered to surrender money to Thieves and yielding passage to Knights (until your
level is high enough that is, after which the Knights will start yielding to you instead).
All of the above mentioned things will remove the need for combat during that Encounter.

On the above note, however, if you yield to an evil Knight, he will sometimes call you a
coward and your Charm will drop one point.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF SEAN NOBLE

Finally, if you have gained a few levels, you could try this tip for loads of experience:
Encounter a Flame Demon (Sword of Demons), Vampire (Unholy Sword), Liche (Sceptre of Chaos) or
Wraith (Unholy Mace) and pick up its respective special weapon after defeating them. It will
scream at you ("Miserable do-gooder, you shall pay!") and drain your Hit Points (these are
very evil items), but it will also summon new demons/vampires/liches/wraiths quite frequently.
This is a great way to get alot of experience, but prepare for furious combat, especially if
you stole the Sword of Demons since the Flame Demons call for more help almost all the time
during combat (though a standard Flame Demon attack of 4 demons give you a good 1,000
Experience Points, and you generally only have to fire away two sets of Cold Blasts to calm
them down). Also beware of the Vampires, since they are extremely hard.

3.2.1 WALKTHROUGH FOR THE DUNGEON
---------------------------------

   General Notes

All the quests are acquired by tossing atleast 5 gold pieces into the
flames of the Oracle. Note that they do not have to be completed in
any particular order.

   Quest One

You must find a Master Thief and slay him (Master Thieves are often found as
wandering monsters). Take the Silver Key you loot from his body and go to the
Palace on level one. Find the Prison (hidden door from the Sewers) and free
the prisoner (Ozob). Accept the spell he offers to learn you if you want it.
Take the Staff Piece he offers you. You'll be teleported to the Puzzle of the
Three Doors. Go middle, left, left, middle, middle. Find Acrinimiril's Tomb
and give the Staffpiece to him.

   Quest Two

There are two ways to solve this quest:

1)	Go to the Troll King or the Goblin King and fight them. Take their
	two ring halves and go to the Dwarven Smithy at level two. Take the
	reforged ring to the Oracle and toss it into the flames.

2)	Go to the Troll King or the Goblin King and fight one of them. Take
	his ring half and offer it to the other king. Fight the king. You can
	now loot the reforged ring of the dead king's body and toss it into
	the flames of the Oracle.

   Quest Three

There are several ways to solve this Quest:

1)	Find the Shrine of Monsters on level one and defeat the 3 Wraiths.
	Get Morgana's Tiara. Go to the Hall of Mirrors on level two and offer
	Morgana's Tiara to the Clothes Horse. Get the Mirrored Shield.

2)	Go to Damon & Phytias Shoppe and buy a Heavy Leather Jacket or a
	Flowing Purple Cape. Wear it. Go to the Clothes Horse and trade
	it for the Mirrored Shield.

   Quest Four

Go to the River Stonz at midnight and offer the Ferryman two coppers.
Kill the seven knights on the other side. Visit the Undead King and you'll
receive the second Staffpiece. Take the Staffpiece to Acrinimiril.

   Quest Five

There are multiple solutions to this Quest too:

1)  Go to the Fearsome Gargoyle on level three (the Riddler). Answer his
    questions as following: Shipwreck, Oracle, Bloodstone and Shingor
    (the last answer isn't necessary, it's actually to complete a
    Wilderness quest). You'll be teleported to the Basilisk. Kill it with
    your bare hands and use the Mirrored Shield as protection. Give the
    Bloodstone to the Great Wyrm to get the last Staffpiece.

2)  Go directly to the Great Wyrm and kill him for the Staffpiece instead.
    (Note that you definetly should have gotten the Temporal Fugue spell
    from Ozob if you want to try this.)

  Ending the Game

When you take the last Staffpiece to Acrinimiril you will be offered a
selection of treasures. Take the (PAC) Card. Go do Death's Door and use
the PAC Card to enter level four. Use the Mirrored Shield in the Alien
Control Room and you have completed the game!

3.2.2 RUMORS IN THE DUNGEON
---------------------------

There are a couple of ways to learn what is going on in The Dungeon from the inhabitants
themselves. If you sit at a bar in the Rathskeller you sometimes get the chance to offer
other dwellers a drink or meal, which will grant you a small piece of information. Of course,
you will have to take some rumors with a grain of salt, and maybe totally dismiss others, but
there are a number of rumors which will give you ingenious clues about the mysteries of the
world.

Rumors of the Rathskeller

  * Never fight fire with fire.
  * The fountain on the first level heals wounds.
  * There is a fountain that cures disease on the second level.
  * The fountain on the third level flows directly from Hell.
  * The Clothes Horse will let you ride him if you give him a nice hat.
  * The River leads to the Lands of the Undead.
  * Never allow an enemy to surrender; he will never have any interesting information.
  * Muggers make powerful allies.
  * An unspeakable horror dwells at the centre of time.
  * In the Rooms of Confusion, seek out a secret door.
  * Greedy adventurers are often visited by the Devourer!
  * Those about to die dwell beneath the Arena on the third level.
  * The Red Wizards teach the black arts.
  * There are magical baths hidden on the fourth level.
  * The truly brave are not afraid of making peace.
  * Be sure your friends are not your foes.
  * Beware of the clown that laughs by the bedside.
  * The guilds conspire together against the king.
  * Beware the screamer that walks on the wind.
  * Fruit juice is very invigorating.
  * Seek the leg of Jeerbeef.
  * Occum gets the best weapons in his shop with a clever trap.
  * They need a new jester at the palace.
  * Troglodytes are valuable friends.
  * About half the rumours you hear in the Dungeon are false.
  * Mutilation has its good points.
  * The third level of the dungeon is patrolled by elephants.
  * The Goblin Lord is a decent fellow.
  * Read the Guidebook thoroughly!
  * Many great treasures are carefully guarded.
  * The Troll King eats punks like you for breakfast.
  * The Thieves' guild is a trustworthy organisation.
  * Exploring the third level requires stamina.
  * Never eat anything you didn't kill yourself.
  * You can get rich quick on the fourth level.
  * Beware of the boatman on the second level.
  * Avoid the elf in the raincoat.
  * Music heard from the tavern comes from beyond this world.
  * Step lightly in the crystal caverns.
  * The third level is actually safer than the first.
  * It's too bad they beefed up security, it used to be easy stealing from others around here.
  * Never trust a demon.
  * My dog told me to beware of you.
  * There's a dead dragon on the third level.
  * There are a lot of crazy people running around in the Palace Prison.
  * The last time I had a drink was... I can't remember the last time I had a drink.
  * Locked doors require skill to pass.
  * There is a fountain on the fourth level that makes you invulnerable.
  * Beware of the poisoner named Lucky.
  * Seek the ways of the Wizards of Law.
  * It takes skill to use armor well.
  * I'm tired, I've just finished a show in the City. I hate dancing, but it's a living.
  * Evil magic takes a special toll.
  * The one winged dog flies tonight!
  * Seek the Dwarf by the Wharf.
  * Walk backwards through the hall of mirrors.

As told by a "dwarf", a "sly-looking stranger", a "sloppy guy" and a "large, burly human".
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JOEL GOODWIN AND MARK WIECZOREK

Encounters with friendly beings (or sometimes even unfriendly one's) can also sometimes
yield interesting responses if you try to transact with them. Certain beings also only
reveal information after they have been offered a certain item they crave.

Rumors from Encounters

  * "Don't tell the peasants how good the pears are with the cheese!"
  * "No good deed ever goes unrewarded."
  * "Run! The Devourer comes."
  * "Beware of false alarms."

As told by an Acolyte, an Apprentice and a Novice.

3.3 USING EMULATORS TO PLAY THE GAMES
-------------------------------------

This has become more and more popular lately, and for some, it is the only way in fact,
to be able to experience the old classic versions of the Alternate Reality games again.
However, the road to nostalgia is filled with hazards that one has to overcome. Hopefully,
this section will clear some of the problems out.

3.3.1 ABOUT ROM IMAGES
----------------------

These are the ones that cause most of the trouble. They are files that contain dumps of
the system rom chips of a computer or console, and they are highly copyrighted, even if
the machine isn't sold anymore and even if the company who made it doesn't exist
(patents lasts 50 years if not renewed).

So, the only way you legally can own a dumped rom image file, is by owning its
correspondant machine too (or if you have purchased the rom separately).

Most of the times, you can find the roms by searching on the web, but beware of asking the
emulator authors about them, since that is to break an unwritten law of the internet, and
can have horrible consequences.

3.3.2 ABOUT DISK IMAGES
-----------------------

Disk images are files that contain dumps of real disks from other computers. If they
contain copyrighted material, such as a comercial game for example, they should be
considered illegal too, if you do not own that game.

For the legal status of Alternate Reality The City and Alternate Reality The Dungeon
disk images, please see section 6.1.

You will find Alternate Reality disk images for all of the below mentioned emulators at
http://www.netmagic.net/~ricortes/ar/ (this archive contains atleast one copy of both
AR games for every system they were every made for or ported to).

3.3.3 RUNDOWNS ON ALL THE EMULATORS
-----------------------------------

My philosophy on emulator reviewing is this: Since the MacOS is one of the most user-friendly
operating systems ever, applications running under it are pretty self-explanatory, so they
do not need to be elaborated here. Those people who are running Unix variations for some
strange reason, are probably doing it out of their own free will and can thus help themselves
if they want to run an emulator. That leaves the Windows users (BeOS users fall under the
MacOS category), and since that platform is usually the one with the most question marks, I
will devote this section for making the life easier of those forced(?) to run that OS.

Also note that the emu scene is constantly changing very fast and I can't possibly keep up
with reviewing every new version of all the emulators that all these wonderful programmers
keeps producing.

Finally, I am ignoring any emulator which costs money, since freeware emulators are often just
as good and comercial one's.

   XL-IT 0.18/0.20 (http://www.netmagic.net/~ricortes/ar/)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installation for each
individual system. Place TOS rom files in the Xl-it directory. If you have a joystick, make
sure you calibrate it (in the menus of the emulator) before the first time you try to start
a game.

To play The City with Xl-it 0.18, you must first make a little configuration change to get
it running. Go to the Enviroments menu and make sure that 130XE mode and Basic Cart is off
and set the old 800 mode to on (this will change the "please insert disk" font to the basic
font the first time prompted, but more importantly, it will accept the disk you insert,
rather than crash). The old 800 mode has to load to memory a few more times than 130XE
mode, but it's more stable with Xl-it.

Xl-it version 0.20 can, however, handle The City with 130XE mode, but it is known, in
The Dungeon atleast, to occasionally crash entire Character disks, rendering them forever
unusable with any emulator! (So make backups regularly.)

Identify what disk and side each disk image represents and make yourself comfortable with
the diskswapping in the emu (there are shortcut keys). When everything is set, press Alt-E
or choose Emulate from the options menu. F3 (Start) skips the introduction, and F8 gets you
back to the menus. Please note that if you chose to leave Basic Cart on (in the Enviroments)
you must hold down the F1 (Option) key when you boot the game, just like on a real Atari.

Xl-it is all in all a very good Dos emulator, and has the undoubtedly best sound emulation
of all the other emus. Xl-it is also quite fast and displays very accurate graphics
(although at a resolution which cripples the screen) and crashes very seldom. Xl-it,
however, won't be updated anytime soon, so you'll have to take it as it is (still one of
the best though).

   ATARI800WIN PLUS 3.1 (http://atariarea.nostalgia.pl/PLus/)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installation for each
individual system. This emulator has alot of settings, so you need to familarize yourself
amongst the menus for awhile before you can start the emulation.

Remember to enable the Pentium Pro and MMX options if you have a Pentium II or newer
(the settings can be found under the advanced graphics options).

Inserting disks can be done by pressing Alt + 1 to 8 for the drive you want to use and
choosing the disk image file (idea contributed by yours sincerely, a very long time ago).
Note that The City only supports a maximum of two drives, while The Dungeon supports up to
four. Also, press Shift - F5 to reboot the computer with the new disk and note that F4 is
Start in this emulator. 

Atari800win is by far the most compatible Atari 8-bit emulator out there. Note that
Atari800win saves all its configurations in the Windows registry instead of a configuration
file, so make sure you delete all its entries there if you want to uninstall it. One fun thing
to note is the ability to emulate TV color distortion, for a really authentic Atari feeling.

Atari800win can also save memory states, which eliminates the need for a character disk,
however, the function does not always work, so backing up your character properly to a disk
now and then, is adviseable. And never save a memory snapshot inside a City establishment,
as The City caches some data by writing on the disk images, which would then be lost.

All in all, this IS the way to play AR (even though the mirrored mountain glitch exists in The
City, like it does in all other Atari emulators), and, of course, the Atari 8-bit versions are
the original versions containing all the unique features of AR, some of which never made it to
the other different ports (including the 16-bit versions).

   WinUAE 0.8.22 Release 2 (http://www.winuae.net/)

Download the emulator and run the install file, but DON'T refer to its manual for details!
The history of UAE is not a pretty one (UAE originally stood for the Unusable Amiga Emulator).
It is originally a Unix build which was converted to both Dos and Windows. This means that
(as with most Unix software) it's a bitch to use, but it gets the job done. Fortunately, in
the later versions, its Unix heritage has been concealed, so you won't have to use the manual
too much, nor dabble with any command line options. You do, however, have to experiment alot
with different configuration settings (see the end of this review for an example that works).

Since the Amiga apparently is a pretty complex machine, emulation isn't glitch free (and
sound, by today's emulation standards, is horrible). Mouse and joystick support is, as you
would expect in any Windows software, a no frills deal (though with Alternate Reality, you
will only be using the keyboard). Saving and loading from the character disk image also works
very well for AR in WinUAE.

The Amiga version of The City comes in the 16-bit flavour. This means simplified combat (which
is bad, since it's a main focus of The City), no wind or thunder sound effects, less elaborate
encounter tunes (hard to distinguish good monsters from bad ones), ability to take jobs at
establishments (a plus) and the ability to join Guilds and cast spells (another plus).
However, the Amiga version of AR also features a rather unique soundtrack version. Unlike the
Atari ST and IBM PC versions, all 4 channels from the original Atari 8-bit incarnation has
been retained, and samples are being used to produce the sound. There is also two new Tavern
songs (Ganthem and Haven). However, since it's a very old title, the quality of most samples
are questionable (as are some of the "new" arrangements). The Amiga version also has, by far,
the smoothest scrolling graphics of any version (atleast on this emulator).

So, what configuration do you need to use? Well, as mentioned, there's hundreds of things
to alter, so here's just a quick suggested list, which seems to be generally good for games:

RAM        ROM        CPU                Display              Sound          Misc
---        ---        ---                -------              -----          ----

No Change  Use        Type: 68000        Width: 640           Sample: 8-bit  No Change
           Kickstart  Speed: Adjust (1)  Height: 512          
           1.3                           Line Mode: Scanline
                                         Centering: All On
                                         Chipset: Full ECS
                                         * Correct Aspect
                                         * No Fullscreen

   WINFELLOW 0.4.2 (http://fellow.sourceforge.net/main/)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installation for each
individual system. Remember to put the TOS roms into the directory of the emulator.

At launch, WinFellow presents you with a window where you can load disk images into disk
drives and then launch or configure the emulator. Apart from letting the emulator know where
your TOS rom is, no additional configuration should be necessary, so just load the disks
and off you go.

WinFellow, though less compatible than UAE, seems to be much better coded. There are no sound
glitches and no graphics glitches in the games it supports (I recommend running in a
windowed 640x512 mode with scanlines and double horisontal pixels).

The City behaves prefectly well, with both loading and saving from a character disk fully
working. The music timing to the lyrics might be questionable though.

Finally, I encountered a curious bug while testing the emulator; all the Stats were 00 in
the portal room, but looked fully normal in the game. While fun, it may cripple play a bit.

  PACIFIST 0.47 (http://www.pacifist.fatal-design.com/)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installation for each
individual system. Remember to put a TOS rom into the directory of the emulator and change
the path to it in the pacifist.ini file! The most compatible version of PacifiST is
currently version 0.47 together with a version 1.00 of the Atari ST TOS rom.

When you start the emulator you'll end up in the monitor (no, your head will not smash into
your monitor; it's a screen with a command prompt which is called the "monitor"). From here,
you type in different commands for what you want to to, eg. "g" for go and "x" for exit. But
first, you should insert a disk image into your virtual Atari ST. Do that by pressing F12 and
follow the onscreen instructions (look at the bottom right hand corner for the keyboard
commands, and the disk image you want to insert would be the AR one).

NOTE: If you are using version 1.2 of The City, you must insert that disk image into both
drives, or PacifiST will crash (I'm sorry, but I don't know why). You can however, later
switch disk when the game wants you to without the emu crashing.

Now you are almost ready to go, but first, hit F1 to ensure that you have "line" screen
emulation (check the upper left hand part of the monitor). This is to get correct colors
when you later run The City.

If you are playing with the Klaupazius compacted version 2.0 of The City (the trained
version), disregard the below sets of instructions; the game runs fine (although
a section of The City which is normally unavailible is opened in this version).

Right, press "g" to start the emulation and watch a wonderful blue screen appear. Then
watch it go black. And black it stays. Time to hit tilde (the key above tab ~) and enter
the monitor again. Try to press Ctrl-T a couple of times and you should see the
emulator step through some addresses and then suddenly come to a loop.

This loop is what causes all trouble and needs to be eliminated. The loop should be at
address 00C204 (00EE7C if you are using version 2.0, but then you must make sure you are
using TOS 2.06 also), so enter "nop C204 1" to get rid of it. Press "g" again, and voila,
life is good.

So, is it worth all trouble? Yes, I think it is. PacifiST is a very good Atari ST emulator
with extremely good sound. The City for the Atari ST is, of course, the 16-bit version which
features jobs and the ability to join guilds. The Atari ST only has three channels of music,
however, so there are some differencies in the different music pieces.

Also, if you are using the untrained version 2.0 of The City (should work with any TOS rom)
the game will think you are running a pirated copy of it, and therefor will treat you in that
way. That is, your character becomes extremely evil and you won't be able to enter any taverns
or save the game. Sneaky? Oh, yes indeed!

Note that from version 0.48 of PacifiST, there is also the ability to save the memory state,
which removes the need for a character disk, but more importantly, enables you to bypass
the need to "hack" those versions which require that, everytime you load the game.

To save, simply type "fz x y" in the monitor, where x is the name of the file (standard 8
characters max, no spaces) and y is a description (more characters and space are allowed!).
Later, to load your saved game, just insert the disk into the emulator and type "uz x" to
restore the emulator to exact state as you left it in the last time!

   STEEM 2.4 (http://steem.atari.org/)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installation for each
individual system. Remember to put the TOS roms into the directory of the emulator.

This emulator has a wizard, and overall very easy menus to use, so there shouldn't really
be any problem at all to get the game running. It also features very charming on screen
graphical display effects, such as a working and accurate ST floppy led.

Note that you must use the uncracked version 2.0 of The City (without the trainer) for
STEEM. No other version will work, but on the other hand, version 2.0 works like a charm.

There are also options for fast forwarding (if you want a quick death), and saving snapshots,
so you don't need any character disks (a temporary character will do).

I would risk to say that STEEM is the best ST emulator yet (STE in fact, if you want to be
picky), but then again, it is the only ST emulator for Windows still in development (except
for SainT, which is really intended to only run demos, so it is not reviewed here).

   WINSTON 0.5 (http://sourceforge.net/projects/winston/)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installation for each
individual system. Remember to put the TOS roms into the directory of the emulator.

Upon loading the emulator, you will be presented with a window with a toolbar (with an
ST-esque "look"). Simply click on the first disk icon and select the disk image you want
to use (it even supports zipped disks) and away you go.

To get back the control of your mouse in Windows, press F12, and to go to a fullscreen mode,
press F11 (the menu is availible by F12 in fullscreen too).

In the "Modify Options" window, you can also do a save state under the "Memory" tab. This
enables you to save your progress at any time without using a character disk.

WinSTon is an extremely well made emulator, and runs The City flawlessly. However, I have
not been able to get version 1.2 or the cracked and trained version 2.0 of The City to work
under WinSTon, and thus, due to the elaborate copy protection, the game is pretty much
unplayable.

   FRODO 4.1a (http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/FRMain.html)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installation for each
individual system. This emulator comes with its own TOS roms.

Since the version I tried was a Win 95 app, it was a whizz to configure and load. In fact,
the only thing you need to configure is personal stuff, like whether you want fullscreen
or not (and it's all reachable from standard windows menus).

There are then several number of ways to get a game running. You could use standard C64
commands, but Frodo also has a set of very nifty built in features. For example, Ctrl-D
lists the content of an inserted disk image, and F7 loads up the first program from that
disk it finds (you still need to type "run" for that command though).

Even though this is a brilliant emulator, complete with full sid emulation and everything,
it does not run AR. Though there has yet to be discovered a complete set of disk images for
the C64 version of The City, the known (partially) cracked version of The Dungeon will not
work, due to the lack of proper 1541 emulation (but also due to the structure of the d64
disk images).

   WINVICE 1.2 (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dsladic/vice/vice.html)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installtion for each
individual system. This emulator comes with its own TOS roms.

Vice is also one of these emulators which are availible for a multitude of different
platforms, and thus can suffer in the area of user-friendliness (it resembles Atari800win
alot, although with slightly more features). Don't fear however, since you are but two clicks
away from reliving Alternate Reality on the CBM64!

Vice features a multitude of configuration options and setting, all of which can happily be
ignored (except the True Drive Emulation switch, which is needed for The Dungeon). Just load
the x64.exe and select Autostart from the menu and insert the first Dungeon disk and off
you go. When the game prompts for another disk, simply press alt-8 to change disk image file,
and then press space to continue the game.

A very good thing about Vice is the ability to enter "warp" mode when you wait for something
to load (and of course, set the speed to 10% during the scrolling stats portal). Memory state
saving is also availible in Vice, called a "snapshot", which works very well and totally
eliminates the need for a character disk.

Note that the C64 version of Alternate Reality lacks the lush colors of the original Atari
8-bit versions, but that is hardly ever noticable and some of the monsters are actually
tweaked so that they look better than on the Atari. Most important, though, is the lack of
the fourth channel of sound which the fantastic original soundtrack boasts (the SID chip only
had three voices). However, everything else is there, in all its 8-bit glory and nothing bad
can be said about this emulator. It is truly versatile.

However, there currently doesn't exist a known good dump of The City for the C64 (only known
version just runs the intro without sound), so you'll have to settle with The Dungeon only for
this system (like you don't have enough of The City versions to play anyway).

   APPLEWIN 95 (ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/emulators/applewin/)

Download the emulator and refer to its manual for details on installtion for each
individual system. This emulator comes with its own TOS roms.

This is a very easy to use emulator. Simply click on the disk icon and enter what disks
you want in what drive and the click on the Apple logo and off you go.

However, there isn't very much to look at. Sure, both The City and The Dungeon runs fine,
you can save your character and all, but there's only four colors, and one channel of
sound. And no, that's not the emulator's fault; that's about all the Apple II had.
What's funny, though, is that even the color blur of a TV is emulated.

All in all, it's a very good emulator, easy to use, runs everything, fast, with sound,
perfect. A Note if you want to uninstall it, though: It saves some of its preferences in
the windows registry, which need to be removed in case of a manual uninstall.

3.3.4 THE IBM PC VERSION OF THE CITY
------------------------------------

Now, some people may ask why this game is mentioned under the "emulated" section of the FAQ.
The answer is simple: The PC version of The City emulates the code of the Atari ST version
of The City. Remember, that this game was conceived in the age of 8086 machines with a speed
of 4mhz and a total of 640k RAM. So to emulate something with 1mb of ram running at 7mhz was
not exactly a good idea...

"Ack! What an embarassment. Because [he] couldn't understand the 3D wall drawing code, he
wrote a cheezy 68000 interpreter to run the code that was written for the ST. Imagine, 32-bit
68000 instructions being emulated on a 16-bit processor and 32-bit registers being emulated as
8088/8086 32-bit variables in memory! If that wasn't lame enough, instead of writing a print
routine to put text on the screen [he] just called the BIOS routines. You could actually watch
the text updates get drawn. It was almost funny when we tried it on the PC Jr. Each little
step took over a second to redraw the screen. Maybe [he] just anticipated 10 years ago that
people would still want to play it on their P200's :-)
[He] did it as an outside contractor. [His] name's in the credits in the PC version, so I
won't divulge it here. [He] preferred to be called John though. Fortunately, I've never heard
of him doing any games since."
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL

What does this mean? Well, it answers the questions why the response after pressing a movement
key is so sluggish (even today) and why the game has a general "untidy" feeling. In other
words, stay away from the PC version and instead, emulate Alternate Reality properly using any
of the above recommended emulators.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
4. ITEMS, LOCATIONS AND OTHER THINGS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Since The City didn't have any quests or defined goals, other than to stay alive, you might
think that there wasn't much to do. But you are so wrong. Staying alive was enough to keep
you occupied for a very long time. And its items, treasure, locations, secrets and details
made it a very worthwhile experience.

4.1 ITEMS IN THE CITY
---------------------

Items were a very treasured thing in The City, indeed. Without clothing, you would freeze;
without food and water, you would go hungry and starve; without weapons, you were an easy
target for thieves; and without money, you mostly couldn't get any of these things.

4.1.1 CLOTHES
-------------

One of the first things you'll notice in The City is that you will get cold quite fast
if you don't buy any proper clothing. Apart from that, it is still unknown exactly what
the effect is, apart from a certain dapper value which apparently increases your status.

Here is a list of all the different selections:

Quality      Color        Fabric         Articles

  Cheap        Black        Dragonskin     Blouse
  Simple       Blue         Fur-lined      Breechcloth
  Fine         Brown        Linen          Cloak
               Gold         Satin          Dress
               Green        Silk           Hat
               Maroon       Wool           Jerkin
               Orange       <blank>        Pants
               Pink                        Raincoat
               Plaid                       Robe
               Purple                      Scarf
               Red                         Shirt
               Silver                      Skirt
               Striped                     Socks
               White                       Tie
               Yellow                      Toga
                                           Vest

4.1.2 FOOD AND DRINKS 
---------------------

Also, one of the first things you'll notice in The City, is that some of your characters
will get hungry and thirsty very, very fast, and if you leave them that way, their stats
will deteriorate quickly.

Food can be very expensive and not very satisfying if you aren't careful. The Official
Cluebook has some very good tips that teaches you the ways of the Taverns.

In addition, I can say from experience, that it is going to take alot of money (from an
initial point of view) if you want to build up a safety buffer of food packets, since the
characters tends to eat them whenever he feels for a snack, and if you don't have enough,
it can be hard to find a Tavern which carries them at the time.

In the list below, every meal has a price for every tavern. Please note, however, that I
have not seen each and every one of those meals in all of the taverns, so they may not
be availible there (such prices are calculated, but hopefully accurate).

Check 4.3.1 for complete Tavern names and locations (prices are in coppers):

Food/Drink        Tail  Mom Tavern Tears Stop LLoyd Hunter

  Ale                6    4      2     5    3     3      4
  Beer               4    3      1     3    2     2      2
  Grape Juice        6    4      2     5    3     3      4
  Grog               4    3      1     3    2     2      2
  Milk               4    3      1     3    2     2      2
  Mineral Water      4    3      1     3    2     2      2
  Orange Juice       6    4      2     5    3     3      4
  Sasperilla         6    4      2     5    3     3      4
  Spirits           10    8      4     9    6     5      7
  Water              2    1      0     1    1     1      1
  Water Flask       10    8      4     9    6     5      7
  Wine               8    6      3     7    4     4      5

  Apple Pie         24   19      9    21   14    12     16
  Bagel             12    8      4    10    7     6      8
  Bowl of Chili     20   16      8    18   12    10     14
  Block of Cheese   30	 24     12    27   18    15     21
  Bowl of Fruit     50   40     20    45   30    25     35
  Chokolate Cake    20   16      8    18   12    10     14
  Crayfish          80   64     32    72   48    40     56
  Filet of Beef    140  112     56   126   84    70     98
  Food Packet       50   40     20    45   30    25     35
  Fried Chicken    100   80     40    90   60    50     70
  Gruel              8    6      3     7    4     4      5
  Ham              120   96     48   108   72    60     84
  Lamb             112   89     44    98   67    56     70
  Lasagna           60   48     24    54   36    30     42
  Leg of Dragon    600  480    240   540  360   300    420
  Leg of Lamb      160  128     64   144   96    80    112
  Lemon Pie         24   19      9    21   14    12     16
  Loaf of Bread     16   12      6    14    9     8     10
  Lobster          200  160     80   180  120   100    140
  Pasta             60   48     24    54   36    30     42
  Pemmican          40   32     16    36   24    20     28
  Plate of greens   36   28     14    30   21    18     25
  Pork Ribs         60   48     24    54   36    30     42
  Rack of Lamb      80   64     32    72   48    40     56
  Ragu of beef      66   52     26    59   39    33     46
  Ragu of Dragon   100   80     40    90   60    50     70
  Roast Beef       100   80     40    90   60    50     70
  Roast Chicken     50   40     20    45   30    25     35
  Roast Dragon     300  240    120   270  180   150    210
  Sandwich          20   16      8    18   12    10     14
  Smoked Fish       50   40     20    45   30    25     35
  Vegetable Soup    10    8      4     9    6     5      7

The Dancing Nymph Tavern has the exact same prices as Mom's Bar.
The Black Devil Tavern has the exact same prices as The Happy Hunter Tavern.
The Flaming Dragon Tavern and The Screaming Siren Tavern
has the exact same prices as the Last Stop.

PLEASE NOTE: None of the Taverns with entrance fees has been covered yet.

4.1.3 WEAPONS AND ARMOUR
------------------------

Tools of vital importance if you wish to defeat your foes. And there will be foes.

If you are lucky, you will find a good weapon or armor after combat, though, depending on
what character you use, such treasure is very rare. Take note of the Cluebook's notes on
weapon, combat and smiths. In addition, Occum's Weaponsmiths (19E, 31N) usually carries
a cheap dagger in the beginning which is always a good start.

Here is a list of all the different weapons and armour:

Weapons           Armor               Shields

  Battle Axe        Banded Armor        Shield
  Battle Hammer     Chain Mail          Small Shield
  Dagger            Leather Armor       Spiked Shield
  Flail             Padded Armor        Tower Shield
  Long Sword        Plated Armor
  Short Sword       Scale Mail
  Stilleto          Splint Armor
  Sword             Studded Leather
  War Net
  Whip

4.1.4 TREASURE
--------------

As the cluebooks tells, you'r ability to find treasure in The City relies on luck,
the hidden treasure finding stat and the type of monster you encounter.

A good way to find treasure in the beginning are by way of killing muggers, and,
if you dare to venture out at night, Gremlins. Gremlins are very weak and almost
always carry some sort of treasure.

Listed below are weapons and armor, both mundane and magical, which can be found after
combat. But you will also be able to find money (gold, silver and copper), precious
stones (gems and jewels which can be appraised at banks) and potions (see the Official
Cluebook for a very good rundown on those).

The Crystal Plate and the Magical Flamesword, which can only be found as Treasure (ie. not
availible in any shops) are considered to be, by far, the best equipment in the game.

Crystal Plate       Magical Flamesword     Magical Tower Shield
Elfin Chain         Magical Battleaxe      Magical War Net
Plate Mail          Magical Battlehammer   Magical Spiked Shield
Banded Armor        Magical Flail          Magical Shield
Chain Mail          Magical Whip           Magical Small Shield
Splint Mail         Magical Longsword
Scale Mail          Magical Sword
Ring Mail           Magical Shortsword
Studded Leather     Magical Stilleto
Leather Armor       Magical Dagger
Padded Armor

-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JIM NORRIS

4.2 ITEMS IN THE DUNGEON
------------------------

Sequels are usually better (hopefully) than their predecessors, and atleast for the items
and the inventory, this is true for the Alternate Reality games. All items in The Dungeon
have a set weight, and the inventory is much easier to manage.

Even though The City has many more shops than The Dungeon, and pherhaps just because of
that, items tend to be more easy to come by, and there are certainly more varied ways to
get them. For example, if you join a Guild, fellow guild members will, if you are short on
a vital item, hand you one, or, you can sometimes find special items lying on the floor in
special areas (one of the best weapons in the game, for example, is Razor Ice which is
located but a short walk from your starting point).

Also, another important factor in The Dungeon is that you can sell the items you find,
which you couldn't in The City. This is great in the beginning, if you have joined a Guild,
since you can then go and remove any curse that the weapon has, and then use the stairway
(49E, 46N) near the Well-lit area to reach the Dwarven Smithy (17E, 24N), and then sell the
items for money!

Food and water is also managed in an easier way, being almost always availible at the
Damon & Phtyias Shoppe (46E, 59N) (whereas in The City, you had to chase Taverns which
could supply them), and since they are vital when you plan on making long journeys, you can
choose when to consume them manually. The same goes for torches (also a very vital thing in
the beginning of the game).

4.2.1 TREASURE
--------------

*** IMPORTANT NOTICE: *********************************************************************

This area is currently under construction. As each monster in The Dungeon can carry both
standard items (food, money etc.), special items (as mentioned in the Cluebook) and also
has its own items, this list will narrow it down to the last option (like the Water Sprite's
Trident for example). As there are alot of monsters in The Dungeon, as with The City, work
in progress is slow. Anyone who feels that they possess information that they think would be
a valuable contribution to this section, please contact me via the e-mail address at the
top of this document.

*******************************************************************************************

4.2.2 ONE-OF-A-KIND ITEMS
-------------------------

These are the true treasures of The Dungeon. A real pain to find, if you don't know where
to look (since there are rarely clues to where to find most of them), but a salvation when
you find them.

The abilites of these items are as varied as they are numerous. The Cluebook for The
Dungeon contains very good descriptions of these items, with the exeption that Melvin's
Helm actually doubles damage done to your head (and supposedly makes you "ugly"), and that
the Bolt Gun is missing.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL AND KEN JORDAN

Here are the locations of all the one-of-a-kind items:

Name                       Locations

  Crossbow [03]              6E, 62N       Level 1
  Thunder Quarrels [10]      11E, 62N        "
  Whetstone                  31E, 62N        "         
  Golden Apple               31E, 59N        "
  Staff of Amber             11E, 36N        "
  Six Pack [6]               17E, 48N        "
  Lodestone                  38E, 57N        "
  Page of Cups               62E, 56N        "
  Winged Sandals             47E, 45N        "
  Morgana's Tiara            44E, 45N        "
  Helm of Light              41E, 45N        "
  Truesilver Coat            42E, 38N        "
  Potion of Restoration      45E, 38N        "
  The Star (card)            48E, 38N        "
  Sword of the Adept         3E, 23N         "
  Amethyst Rod               3E, 15N         "
  Saurian Brandy             9E, 8N          "
  Map Stone                  59E, 28N        "
  Razor Ice                  60E, 23N        "
  Blue Pearl Dagger          48E, 25N        "
  Crystal Breastplate        8E, 23N       Level 2
  Death (card)               19E, 5N         "
  Robin's Hood               0E, 14N         "
  Flame Quarrels [10]        4E, 10N       Level 3
  Junai's Sword              9E, 0N          "
  Iron Palm Salve            9E, 3N          "
  Melvin's Helm              5E, 5N        Room of Confusion
  Cloak of Levitation        19E, 29N      Level 2
  Beam Weapon [99]           2E, 0N        Level 4

  Gauss Riftle [99]          33E, 62N      Level 1
  Solar Suit                 36E, 62N        "

See section 5.2.1 on how to acquire the last two items.

4.3 ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE CITY
------------------------------

What other game let you, on a cool but clear night, wander around a city, from tavern to
tavern, and listen and be entertained by good music and dancing and drink from the local
establishment's selection of beverages, and even become a bit drunk.

No other game offered such a widespread selection of shops and inns, and no other game
ever have had such a level of interactivity as The City had (and no other game succeeded
to appeal to one's vanity as The City; why, if not only to get that expensive Fine Gold
Dragonskin Raincoat, do you continue to play the game as a Level 13 character?).

At the home location of this document one can find maps to pinpoint these places on, and they
are dumps from the original source code so they are 100% accurate! (Even showing certain areas
in The City which can't be accesed in a normal game.)

4.3.1 TAVERNS
-------------

The Tavern, along with the Smithy, was the peak of the games interactivity. Each Tavern
had different opening times, different menus (that changed from time to time) and
different prices. On top of that, they served different appetizers and had different
music playing too, along with some random events that occasionally occured.

The cluebook has some notes on taverns, which you should read. Also, when you entered a
tavern you got some choises on where to sit. These were as follows. If you wanted to
sit at the bar, you got to listen to the band (and watch the various events that could
occur around that), and from time to time, strangers would wander in whom you could
interact with. If you chose to sit at a table, you still got the band playing, but you
wouldn't be disturbed by anyone entering the tavern. And finally, in the private booth,
you were isolated from both the music playing and any wandering strangers.

Here is the list of all the tavern names and locations:

Name                       Location        Opening hours        Membership fee

  Flaming Dragon Tavern      60E, 2N
  Misty Mountain Tavern      1E, 54N         11:00-03:00          3,000
  Screaming Siren Bar        44E, 9N         16:00-04:00
  Happy Hunter Rest Stop     7E, 24N         00:00-08:00
  Dancing Nymph Tavern       41E, 34N        16:00-08:00
  The Club                   33E, 53N        18:00-23:00          1,500
  Black Devil Tavern         32E, 19N        00:00-06:00
  (Lost Oasis) Tavern        20E, 62N
  Last Stop                  52E, 56N
  Tail of the Dog            39E, 29N
  Club Babalyon              57N, 33E        10:00-05:00          50,000
  Lost Tears Tavern          13E, 12N
  Mom's Bar                  5E, 35N
  Lusty Lloyds               60E, 30N

4.3.2 INNS
----------

The Inns were the only means of sleep you had in The City. And sleep you needed, since the
character realistically got tired if he stayed awake for long times. More importantly, it
was also the easiest way to recover lost Hit Points. This was also the only way to check
the time in the 8-bit version of The City.

As with everything in The City, you had alot of options here. In this case, the options
were where you would sleep and for how long, and depending on what you chose, you got
various healing bonuses.

There are two tables here, one with locations, and one with prices (and the prices of
lodging doesn't change from time to time):

Name                       Location

  Green Boar Inn             9E,  19N
  Lazy Griffin Inn           33E, 52N
  Sleeping Dragon Inn        60E, 6N
  Travellers Inn             31E, 25N
  Midnight Inn               32E, 23N
  Warriors Retreat Inn       28E, 54N
  Royal Resort               31E, 3N

Sleep                      Green   Lazy   Dragon   Travel   Midnigt   Warrior   Royal

  the common area floor       10     16        5       60        30         7      80
  a Bed with no bath          20     32       10      120        60        15     160
  a Bed with common bath      30     48       15      180        90        22     240
  a Room, with common bath    40     64       20      240       120        30     320
  a Room with bath            50     80       25      300       150        37     400
  a Premium Room             100    160       50      600       300        75     800
  a Deluxe Room              200    320      100    1,200       600       150   1,600
  a Small Suite              400    640      200    2,400     1,200       300   3,200
  a Suite                    800  1,280      400    4,800     2,400       600   6,400
  Our BEST Suite           1,600  2,560      800    9,600     4,800     1,200  12,800

4.3.3 BANKS
-----------

The banking system in The City is a very advanced one. They provide you with interest and
also a risque of account failures. A low risk account has a 0.6% interest per day, and a
0.1% failure risk per day, medium risk has 1.3% interest and 1.0% failures, and high risk
has 3.2% interest and a 3.3% account failure risk per day.

To keep track of things, The City lets you view your balance, your interest rate and even
the account failure history of the bank, whenever you want. You can also appraise gems and
jewelry for a small fee, and then sell them (but always get a second opinion since jewelry,
while more expensive to appraise, can give you up to 100 gold).

Name                       Location        Opening Hours

  Grams Gold Exchange        2E,  61N        ??
  Granite Bank               38E, 27N        ??
  First City Bank            30E, 6N         ??

4.3.4 GUILDS
------------

As you probably know, the Guilds award you a bonus the first time you enter them. This
can, if you want, be seen as the game's first and only quest; to get all the knowledge
the Guilds has to offer.

Also, ignore the highlighted option to join the guild. That only works in the 16-bit
versions of the game, not in the 8-bit (an option which, together with the two hidden
guilds, would be enabled and opened up with The Arena).

Name                       Location        Increase               Remove Curse

  Thieves Guild              43E, 34N        Skill                  9,000
  Blue Wizards Guild         18E, 47N        Physical Speed         3,000
  Light Wizards Guild        2E,  4N         Wisdom                 2,700
  Green Wizards Academy      11E, 42N        Stamina                3,000
  Red Wizards University     47E, 14N        Strength               3,000
  Dark Wizards Guild         33E, 21N        Charisma               3,100
  Star Wizards Guild         27E, 11N        Hit Points + Strength  2,000
  Wizards of Chaos Guild     50E, 59N        Charisma               4,000
  Wizards of Law Guild       61E, 49N        Wisdom                 3,800
  Guild of Order             57E, 49N        Intelligence           4,000
  Physicians Guild           5E,  14N        Hit Points             7,000
  Assassins Guild            55E,  2N        Suprise Attacks        11,000

  Mercenary Guild            32E, 55N        Strength               12,000
  Power Wizard Institute     25E, 44N        Stamina                2,500

The last two Guilds are not normally availible in the game (see section 6.4 for details).

4.3.5 HEALERS
-------------

Healers doesn't seem to have any fixed opening times, but rather they come and go as they
please (that is, the cursed doctor is never there when you need him). Neither do they seem
to have any fixed prices on their services, rather prices on cleansing diseases or curing
poisons can range from anything from 200 to 800 (prices also seem to radically increase
after you have used their services).

If you chose to remove a disease and exit and find that the Diseased! text is still
there, don't panic; it will wear of in a few minutes.

Diagnose can only be chosen after you have gotten a disease warning, and its only effect
is that it names your ailment.

Name                       Location        Opening Hours    Prices

  One Way Soothers           29E, 29N        Random?          Random?
  Alpha Omega Healers        4E,  19N        Random?          Random?

4.3.6 SMITHS
------------

The Smithy is the most complex character in the whole game. All is not known about the smithy,
but atleast we know that he has a memory of you, he knows whether you're good or evil and
there seems to be a intricate system for haggling with him (it is also possible, though it is
unconfirmed, that your Intelligence or Charisma may increase if you make a good deal, and that
he may increase his prices if he doesn't like you).

Name                       Location        Opening Hours

  Occums Weaponsmiths        19E, 32N        05:00-21:59
  Sharp Weaponsmiths         54E,  9N        04:00-20:59
  Knights Armorers           50E, 35N        11:00-15:59
  Best Armorers              32E, 27N        08:00-19:59

4.3.7 SHOPS
-----------

While the Shops had one (or maybe two) major functions, namely providing clothing to keep
you warm (or providing outrageous outfitts to milk you of money), and of course letting
you have the compass for 5 silvers, it is still unknown if there were other purposes.
Clothing are rumored to have a 'dapper' effect, which would affect the way that other
citizens viewed you, but no hard facts has ever been revealed about this.

Also, if you bid too low for the shopkeepers liking, too many times, he'll not only throw
you out, but also ban you (you'll know when that has happened since he will say "Get OUT!
You worm!" when you enter).

Name                       Location        Opening Hours

  Best Bargain Store         35E, 30N        09:00-22:00
  Honest Trader              35E, 24N        08:00-22:00
  Exclusive Outfitters       21E, 43N        11:00-16:00
  Smiley's Shop              25E, 15N        08:00-21:00
  Sunset Market              33E, 55N        09:00-20:00
  Warrior's Supplies         26E, 59N        05:00-18:00
  Ono Goods                  9E,  37N        09:00-18:00
  Adventurers Outfitters     3E,  12N        08:00-20:00
  Da Place (north)           60E, 61N        08:00-18:00
  General Store              55E, 17N        05:00-00:00
  Merchants Grotto           52E,  9N        04:00-20:00
  Pauline's Emporium         46E, 37N        11:00-17:00
  Betelguese Sales           38E, 56N        03:00-23:00
  Da Place (south)           19E,  5N        08:00-18:00
  Grubron Imports            0E,  13N        10:00-15:00

4.3.8 OTHER LOCATIONS
---------------------

When The City was made, it was made with the intention that The Arena and The Wilderness
would be released. However, since this didn't happen, alot of features in the game never
got any use. That is the case with these locations, as in the game, they are all (except
for the Floating Gate of course) "closed by order of The Palace". However, it is fun to
see that they are there and to think of what could have been.

Name                       Location

  House of Ill-Repute        42E, 35N
  Acrinimirils Gate          31E, 36N
  Floating Gate              35E, 27N
  Maximum Casino             39E, 36N
  Jacks Fitness Academy      54E, 4N

  Davids Weapons Trainers    23E, 47N
  Armstrong Builders         25E, 50N
  Apollo Trainers            26E, 46N

The last three trainers are not normally availible in the game.

  Grogs Weapons Trainers     Not on the map
  Flash Weapons Trainers     Not on the map

The above two trainers are only found by dumping data from the original disks.

4.4 LOCATIONS IN THE DUNGEON
----------------------------

Whereas The City didn't have any of its special locations implemented (they were all 'closed
by the order of the Palace'), The Dungeon had dozens of them! It took some time to find them
all, but luckily, most of them had clues which pointed you in the right direction in one way
or another.

4.4.1 GUILDS
------------

There were two kinds of Guilds in The Dungeon; Good guilds and Evil guilds. These Guilds were
often at war with each other, so if you joined one guild, you instantly made enemies with
another (if you didn't use the Ace of Cups, that is). But you also made friends in your Guild,
who could come and help you in The Dungeon if you were ever in need (to give you torches,
timepieces, compasses, food, water, money or even advice). You also got a Guild Locker, which
acted as the eqvivalent of a City Bank, but without any risk of it being robbed. The most
important thing, however, was the Guild Ring, in which you stored the spell points needed to
cast the spells the guild would offer to learn you. But you didn't always have to rely on your
Guild to recharge the ring or train you in Spell Casting; you could use Crystals for that and
whenever you cast a spell, there was a chance that its success rate would increase a bit.

To replenish your Guild Ring by using Crystals, simply press U to Use and select your Guild
Ring; 1 Crystal will be drawn from your inventory and become [10] Guild Ring charges.

Name                      Location

  Wizards of Chaos Guild    50E, 59N
  Wizards of Law Guild      62E, 49N
  Guild of Order            58E, 49N
  Thieves Guild             44E, 33N
  Light Wizards Guild       2E,   4N
  Dark Wizards Guild        33E, 21N
  Paladins Guild            2E,  26N  Level 2
  Mercenaries Guild         8E,  12N  Level 2

4.4.2 FOUNTAINS
---------------

The Fountains in The Dungeon provided you with a small safety buffer if you couldn't reach
The Well Lighted Area. They were strategically placed, since on Level 2, you probably don't
want to waste time to go up to the Well Lit Arean to find a healer to cure your diseases, and
on Level 3, having gotten that far, you probably are quite tired already getting there.

Fountain

  Cure Wounds               14E, 10N  Level 1
  Cure Diseases             24E, 15N  Level 2
  Cure Fatigue              15E,  1N  Level 3

4.4.3 TRANSPORTERS
------------------

This may be something that is unknown to many, but if mastered, it can be a great way to
travel in The Dungeon. There are alot of different transporters scattered around. Some will
transport you to places where you will find interesting things, and some may transport you
into near certain death.

Here is a list of all transporters, including from where and to where they take you.

Location                Destination

  56E, 48N                43E, 35N  Level 1
  54E, 48N                43E, 32N  Level 1
  56E, 42N                24E,  4N  Level 1
  46E, 36N                18E, 22N  Level 1
  5E, 47N                 58E, 58N  Level 1
  9E, 17N                 54E, 56N  Level 1
  15E, 21N  Level 2       60E, 56N  Level 1
  7E, 19N   Level 2       11E, 21N  Level 2
  11E, 3N   Level 3       0E,   3N  Room of Confusion
  2E,  2N   Room of C     13E,  0N  Level 3
  Blink Mines             18E, 22N  Level 1

Elevator Buttons (2E, 5N Level 4)

  Blue                    45E, 41N  Level 1
  Red                     31E, 22N  Level 2
  Green                   9E,   3N  Level 3

Ozob's Door Puzzle is not listed here. See the Solution to The Dungeon for details on that.

-INFORMATION COURTESY OF TONY EKSELL AND JIMMY SJSTRM

4.4.4 OTHER SPECIAL LOCATIONS
-----------------------------

The Dungeon had a multitude of hidden shops, strange guilds and other interesting locations.
Each location featured its unique graphics, though not all locations were blessed with music
(visit the home location of this document for a screenshot of each special location).

Here is a list of all the special locations in The Dungeon with a short description.

  (46E, 59N) DAMON & PHYTIAS SHOPPE

This is the first establishment you encounter in The Dungeon. Inside, you will find a humble
little shop, owned by Omar and his brother. Here you will be able to buy everything a newly
descended Dungeon adventurer needs. From supplies to clothing, survival gear and weapons.
As with the grumpy Smiths in the city above, Omar has his distinct personality. Do to much
window shopping and he will start to dislike you and raise the prises. But if you buy from
him alot, he will consider you a loyal customer and may even lower his prices, or atleast
be willing to bargain a bit more. Though you should be advised to watch your purse if you
want to buy more than one item from him at a time; Omar is not the brightest of minds when
it comes to adding.

  (55E, 60N) THE RETREAT

Located in the Well-Lit Area, this is the place where weary Dungeon adventurers go to rest.
The Retreat is a generous place, so you will get to sleep here, no matter how poor you are
(but you'll usually end up at the drafty spot by the door, and probably be frowned upon by
others). If you are generous, though, you'll get a comfortable nights sleep close to the
fireplace (that is, if you are not cursed poisoned, or sick, since then you'll probably be
troubled by nightmares, which you should take as warning to seek out a healer). The lady in
charge of the Retreat is also the one who spoke the immortal words: "Thou art welcome
here, but thy deceased friend is not! Please have it wait outside!" (if you happened to drag
a corpse into the establishment).

  (60E, 61N) DER RATHSKELLER BAR & GRILLE

Also located in the Well-Lit Area, this is a gathering point for the hungry adventurer in
The Dungeon. Der Rathskeller only has a few tables and a bar (no fancy private booths as
in The City). Since you can eat at the bar, that's usually the best spot, because you can meet
wandering strangers who may tell you interesting stories if you buy them a drink or a meal.
Of course, you can always buy a round for the house to try to get friends too, if there is
anyone around that is (The Dungeon is not as bustling with human activity as The City is).
Always leave a nice tip to the barkeep too, since you always get any leftovers neatly wrapped
in a food packet, and remember that he will always buy dragon corpses from you for 50 gold.

  (59E, 36N) PALACE PRISON

Hidden in a wall outline of the Palace, you access this dreadful place through a hidden
entrance in the Sewers. Inside, you will find the poor imprisoned apprentice of Acrinimiril.
He requires a special Silver Key to be freed, which only a Master Thief carries. Once
Ozob is free, you will be best advised never to return, or be returned, here again.

  (27E, 55N) THE CHAPEL

If you exit the Well-Lit Area to the north and take the first door you find to the west,
you'll end up in an alcove with a sign that says "Welcome to the Chapel. Please come in."
Here, ceremonies is held twice a day (8:00 to 11:00 in the morning and 21:00 to 23:00 in the
evening) and a priest is always availible for consulting about your current alignment.
Donations are always welcome, and if you have been generous and righteouss, you might even get
access to the Sanctuary.

  (31E, 54N) THE CHAPEL SANCTUARY

Only the one's with a truly good heart and pure soul are allowed to enter this secret place.
Here, kind monks will offer free food and lodging for all visitors. It is a safe haven from
all evil.

  (2E, 61N) GRAM'S GOLD EXCHANGE VAULT

The hidden and well guarded vault of one of the wealthy banks of The City. If you manage to
penetrate its defences and enter the vault, temptation may lure you into trying to get away
with some loot. If you set off any alarms, watch out for guards, since you will have to
fight or bribe them to get away. Surrendering means a sure death in the Palace Dungeons...
except maybe for members of the Thieves Guild, who may get lucky with some friends.

  (2E, 49N) GOBLIN KING'S PALACE

In the northwest part of the first level of the City sewers, you will find an alcove, and if
you take that alcove and follow the windling corridors, you may end up in front of a dirty
sign which reads "Goblins only!". Beyond that sign lies the goblin's demesne. The goblins are
short and nasty creatures, but also sneaky, and are suprisingly articulate. Do not let that
fool you, though, since the goblin lord is a fearsome opponent, wielding a Sceptre of Evil.
The goblin and troll kings are locked in an eternal struggle over a ring they both possess one
half of.

  (31E, 36N) ACRINIMIRIL'S TOMB

Deep in the heart of The Dungeon lies the Egyptian themed tomb of Acriminil, where his
mummified corpse still resides, and his ghost still is trapped. Only by the power of his
now lost staff can set him free. Unfortunately the staff is broken into three hidden pieces,
which the ghost will ask you to find. But as Acriminil was a powerful being while alive,
the rewards for the pieces are great.

  (30E, 6N) FIRST CITY BANK VAULT

Another hidden and well guarded vault of one of the wealthy banks of The City. If you manage
to penetrate its defences and enter the vault, temptation may lure you into trying to get
away with some loot. If you set off any alarms, watch out for guards, since you will have to
fight or bribe them to get away. Surrendering means a sure death in the Palace Dungeons...
except maybe for members of the Thieves Guild, who may get lucky with some friends.

  (35E, 27N) ORACLE OF WISDOM Get quests and enlightment for gold coins

The great Oracle of wisdom is located in the very heart of The Dungeon, beneath the Floating
Gate of The City, beyond the spinner trap and behind the door with the rune of the
all-knowing eye upon. To receive guidance, the Oracle demands you to offer a few golds into
its flames. The flames of the Oracle can also be used to permanently destroy any object
in The Dungeon, though it is unknown what the Oracle itself sees of such actions.
It is the Oracle which gives you guidance in your various quests in The Dungeon.

  (43E, 2N) WEAPON ENCHANTRESS

The Weapons Enchantress is not only the most beautiful character in The Dungeon, but also one
of the most mysterious. In her shop, adventurers and other weapon wielders come to get their
steel examined and, for a donation in crystals, enchanted. The Enchantress can increase the
power of a weapon in any of the seven different damage types of The Dungeon. She can also
reveal the power of a weapon, but she never exactly tells you what she knows...

  (56E, 6N) TROLL KING'S PALACE

A crooked sign says "TROLLS ONLY" at the entrance to the troll king's demesne, located beyond
a secret hallway near the southern part of The City sewers. The trolls are large and lumpy
creatures. The troll tyrant is also a fearsome beast, wielding a Sceptre of Evil.
The goblin and troll kings are locked in an eternal struggle over a ring they both possess one
half of.

  (16E, 24N) DWARVEN SMITHY

In the damp halls of the second levels of The Dungeon, one can find a doorway with carvings
above it which says "Fine Weapons & Armor". Inside you will find a forge, and working by
that forge is the Dwarven Smithy. The smith stocks fine truesilver armor, but can also make
you the best weapons in the whole of The Dungeon. The only currency the smith accepts is
gems and jewels and, as with the Enchantress, the more you offer, the greater the crafted
weapon will be.

  (7E, 6N) LUCKY'S POTION BREWERY

In the heart of the ghost infested maze of pitch-black rooms that are Mordred's Maze,
out of the faint blue glow in the walls, you may find an arrow painted on the floor pointing
south. If you follow the arrow, you will end up in the strange laboratory with a strange man.
That man is Lucky, who is always looking for wanderers who are willing to taste his latest
experimental brew. Naturally you can also purchase anything from his selection of already
labeled potions, or have him identify and label one for you.

  (15E, 5N) UNDEAD KING'S PALACE

If you have managed to pass across the river Stonz with the ferryman, an even greater
challenge awaits you on the other side. In order to reach the palace, you need to defeat
seven Undead Knights. The Undead King will be glad to see you, though, as you will have
broken an evil curse, and will reward you with a staff piece and a great clue to the
mechanics of the alien world.

  (28E, 12N) RIVER CROSSING

There is only one known way to cross the swift and perilous dark waters of the underground
river Stonz, and that is by the means of the mysterious and ghostly ferryman by the
River Crossing. Only at the midnight hour, and only by offering no more and no less than
two coppers, will he row you across, into the regions of the undead.

  (26E, 23N) CLOTHES HORSE'S ROOM

In the hall of mirrors, there is a most puzzling creature. The Clothes Horse is like nothing
else in The Dungeon; arrogant, self-centered and totally harmless. It spends all days and
all hours admiring its reflection, and feeling rather happy about it. You can, however,
make it even happier by trading it a piece of fancy clothing in exchange for its mirror.

  (3E, 1N) GREAT DRAGON'S LAIR

If you ignore the "BEWARE OF THE DRAGON" sign, and travel down the stench ridden, lava glowing
corridors on the third level of The Dungeon, you will end up in the Great Dragon's Lair.
The great wyrm would gladly have you as a crunchy meal, if it was not for the fact that it
craves the bloodstone, and needs bold adventurers to find it. Whether or not you decide to
bring it to him, is up to you, but in the horde of the great wyrm, there awaits a staff piece.

  (2E, 5N) FEARSOME GARGOYLE

This is the most mysterious character in the whole of Alternate Reality. Originally rumored to
be a friendly alien of some sort, nobody really knows what he is after, or how he really looks
like. In The Dungeon, he will toy with you and test you with his tricky riddles. But do put
your mind into it, because he will not be patient with those who are foolish enough to not
think twice before answering.

The last riddle he asks, though, wasn't really meant to be answered in The Dungeon, but rather
was planned to be revealed in The Wilderness, where apparently a clue to his name would be
given. However, since The Dungeon was the last game released, Datasoft was kind enough to
reveal the name to those who wanted to solve it, which is: SHINGOR

  (8E, 7N) DEATH'S DOOR

At the end of the terrible gauntlet of monsters, where no magic works, lies the Death's Door.
The door is, however, not as bad as it sounds, as the "death" part is just something the
aliens have added to scare away dungeon dwellers. A special item is needed in order to use
the door. Anyone without that item, simply passes right through to the other side, without
anything special happening.

  (6E, 4N) ALIEN CONTROL ROOM

If you manage to survive all the way down to the fourth and final floor of The Dungeon,
you will find one of the mysterious and strange secret installations of the aliens.
The aliens however, are not happy to see you, and you should be well advised to equip some
defensive gear against their beam weapons.

  (2E, 5N) ELEVATOR

Once clear of the Alien Control Room, you may take this moving room to any of the different
levels of The Dungeon. But once you the door closes behind you, it will disappear.

4.4.5 SPECIAL AREAS

Not only were there special locations in The Dungeon with its special location graphics,
but there where also whole special areas with special graphics and monsters and other things
which affected you in various ways when you entered them (one being the Crystal Caverns with
its beautiful textures and archways, where the Ice Devils lured and in which you could get
cold and catch the Crystal Doom disease, but which held the Crystal Plate as a reward deep
within a central chamber).

Here is a list of all these special areas with a small description and a rough location:

Name                   Location            Notes

The Well Lit Area      Level 1, NE         No need for torches, easy monsters, many paupers
The City's sewers      Level 1, Edges      Disease spreading Rats and food consuming Molds
Pythonesses' Maze      Level 1, Center     Where you can find the Oracle
Goblins' Demense       Level 1, NW         Lots of Goblins to fight
Troll's Demense        Level 1, SE         Lots of Trolls to fight
Taurean Maze           Level 1, SW         Many fixed monster encounters
The Loop               ??
Ozob's Door Puzzle     Level 1, NW         A Teleporter behind every door (m, l, l, m, m)
The mausoleum          Level 1, NW         Undead creatures, Tomb of Acrinimiril
Shrine of Monsters     Level 1, NE         Special monster and treasure in every room
The blink minefield    Level 1, SW         Lots of teleporters, to 22E, 18N in Taurean Maze
The Hall of Arches     ??
Cult Room              Level 1, SE         Special symbol on the map, Blue Pearl Dagger
Pelinor's Puzzle       ??
The Hall of Mirrors    Level 2, E          Many Dopplegangers, Clothes Horse
The Crystal Caverns    Level 2, W          Ice Demons and the Crystal Doom disease
The Hall of the Adept  Level 2, E          Egyptian hieroglyfs and a pyramid painting
The River Stonz        Level 2, S          Unreachable area, River Crossing
Realm of the Undead    Level 2, SE         Many undead creatures, egyptian hieroglyfs
Mordred's Maze         Level 2, SW         Lots of ghosts and dark passageways
The hot area           Level 3, S          Many Small Dragons, very warm, very smelly
The Gauntlet           Level 3, Center     Monster in every room, Death's Door at end
The Room of Confusion  RoC                 Special area outside any normal map, Basilisk

The Shrine of Monsters is a special area south, southwest of the Well Lighted Area
(main entrance is at 48E, 41N). It contains rooms, secured in various ways in which there
are monsters who will give you treasure if you defeat them. Here is a list of the different
room's contents:

Location    Door        Monster          Treasure

  41E, 44N    Locked      4 Flame Demons   Helm of Light
  44E, 44N    Bolted      3 Wraiths        Morgana's Tiara
  47E, 44N    Enchanted   Valkyrie         Winged Sandals
  41E, 38N    Locked      8 Dwarves        Truesilver Coat
  44E, 38N    Bolted      Great Naga       Potion of Restoration
  47E, 38N    Enchanted   Lich             The Star (card)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
5. SECRETS AND CHEATS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Now, with this FAQ you really should have gotten enough tips to not have to resolve to
cheating. But also, since this is a FAQ it should contain every little detail about the
games, and since cheating is one of those details, well, here you go!

5.1 SECRET CODES IN THE CITY
----------------------------

Philip Price is a man who is known to not be fond of cheating in computer games, atleast,
not without a negative effect for every positive one. So, there are some codes in The City
which can be entered, but exactly what they do is unknown (even to Philip Price himself at
this day).

Well, by entering your Character's name as "fiat" with the CTRL key pressed down you get
the question "What is Reality?"

The following are the various answers and their cryptic effects:

  cela saute aux yeux - To be outside of time is to be unchangable.
  sempiternal         - The gift of life is thru love.
  Master of Chronos   - Hail Master of Chronos! But power is fleeting.
  unseen              - That which is invisible is real

If you type an answer incorrectly, you get a message saying "The laws are as they were".

5.2 SECRET CODES IN THE DUNGEON
-------------------------------

Of course, The Dungeon also had its share of codes, but also some cheats (Ken Jordan and
Dan Pinal were apparently a bit more liberal with cheat codes). But another thing was also
introduced; due to the increased size of the game, and the increased size of the code, the
gamers were able to exploit some bugs the programmers didn't think of!

There is also a debugger option in The Dungeon, which is supposedly initiated with the
name 'Adept-1', but I haven't gotten it to work yet.

THE GUILD CODE

This cheat is activated by entering one of the guilds and typing '666' with the keyboard.
You will get a very large amount of Hit Points, but you will also become extremely evil
in the game.

TACTICAL NUKE SPELL

This powerful cheat is activated by going to a Stairwell and typing '853-1212'. This will
get you a Spell in your spell inventory called Tac Nuke (at 95%) which will make about
1,000 Hit Points of damage to a multiple amount of monsters.

The number is an old telephone number to Datasoft which was printed on The Dungeon box.
If you are going to try the cheat on an emulator, make you you have the 'dash' key correct
before you type it in the stairwell (make a test type in the name character screen).
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL AND KEN JORDAN

GOLDEN APPLE TRICK

This cheat is funny in that way that it requires you to be faster than the computer itself
(and believe me it worked on a real Atari 130 XE atleast). Go to the Golden Apple and get to
the menu which gives you the option to get it. Press Y immideately followed by D. This will
get you the apple and open the Drop Item menu. You can now scroll through your items, and
if you were fast enough, you will discover the Golden Apple. Now choose to drop it. You
will still have the Hit Point bonus gained, and you will now also be able to get the Apple
again, with the bonus, as many times as you like (as long as you are fast enough).

STAT SPELLS CHEAT

This is executed by learning a spell in one of the Guilds which raises one of your stats
(also make sure you have learned the maximum amount of spells your mind can hold at your
present level). Go outside the Guild and cast the spell so it takes effect at raises one
of your stats. Then, while the spell is still in effect, quickly go inside the Guild and
choose to learn a spell (either one is fine) and then unlearn the Stat raising Spell that
you just cast. The effect of the spell will then become permanent, and you can do it over
and over again as many times as you like.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JIM NORRIS

ITEM EFFECT CHEAT

This cheat works in a similar way as with the Stat Spells cheat. Equip a one-of-a-kind item
that has a special effect (like the Winged Sandals or the Helm of Light), and then enter
the Dwarven Smithy on level 2. Now try to sell him the item you just equipped, and he'll
refuse. However, he will have removed them item from use and placed it back into your
inventory, but, the effect will still be there, and it will be permanent. This cheat can
also be done over an over again (try giving the Iron Palm Salve to the Smithy again and again
and watch your Bare Hand Damage become greater than even the damage from a Custom Weapon!).
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JIM NORRIS

5.2.1 SECRET ITEMS IN THE DUNGEON
---------------------------------

There are two items in the game to which there aren't any clues to be found, and still,
there are persons who has been able to figure out the way to access them. I am, of course,
talking about the infamous Solar Suit and Gauss Riftle, and here is the proper way to
access them:

Go and fetch the Amethyst Rod at 3E, 15N which is able to open any door in the game (except
Death's Door, of course). Then make your way down to Level 2, to the Hall of the Adept, and
position yourself in the alcove with the painting of the purple pyramid at 28E, 17N. Face
the northern wall and use the Amethyst Rod and you will be teleported to the end of the
long corridor at 32E, 62N on Level 1 (behind the teleporter which previously hindered your
path there), and there you will find something which looks like evidence of a small battle
(and some disgusting remains which could be an alien) and finally, a Solar Suit and a Gauss
Riftle [95].

The reasons for these weapons being so mysterious and secret in The Dungeon, were that they
weren't meant to be discovered until the release of The Wilderness (which we are all still
waiting for)...

5.3 CHEATING WITH THE EMULATORS
-------------------------------

For this, you have to use Xl-it or Atari800Win Plus who's monitor enables you to change the
values in any memory position. In Xl-it, you change the value of a memory position with the
":" (colon) command, and in Atari800Win Plus, you change the value of a memory position
with the "c" command. It should look like this...

> : [memory position to change] [value to change it to]
> c [memory position to change] [value to change it to]

You can also, for example, directly type ": 6345 F F F F" for 3,855 Hit Points, or directly
type "c 6313 0D 16" to go to the Shrine of Monsters (Dungeon), as each following value is
assigned to the next memory position.

5.3.1 MANIPULATING THE CITY
---------------------------

Below is an preliminary list of memory positions in The City. Note that you shold change
all three stat position for the entire stat to change. Stats are believe to be in the
following order: Displayed, Natural, Effective (current).

According to Philip Price, the displayed-only stat exists so that a person can be deluded,
so de thinks he is  strong, but really isn't (could be caused by potions etc.) The opposite
could be true too, he feels he is weak, but really isn't.

Memory    Starting  What is modified
Location  Value     Range (Notes)

8924      23        West-East Location (nw corner=00,00)
8925      24        North-South Location (nw corner=00,00)

892E      RND       STR (displayed)
895F      RND       STR
8960      RND       STR

8937      RND       INT (displayed)
8938      RND       INT
8939      RND       INT

8940      RND       WIS (displayed)
8941      RND       WIS
8942      RND       WIS

8949      RND       SKL (displayed)
894A      RND       SKL
894B      RND       SKL

8952      RND       STA (displayed)
8953      RND       STA
8954      RND       STA

895B      RND       CHR (displayed)
895C      RND       CHR
895D      RND       CHR

8964                ??
8965                ??
8966                ??

8AA6      00        Experience 16777215+
8AA7      00        Experience 65535+
8AA8      00        Experience 256+
8AA9      00        Experience 000+

8AB8      00        Hit Points Current 256+
8AB9      RND       Hit Points Current 000+

8ABC      00        Hit Points Maximum 256+
8ABD      RND       Hit Points Maximum 000+

8AC0      00        Gold   - 256+
8AC1      00        Gold   - 000+

8AC4      00        Silver - 256+
8AC5      00        Silver - 000+

8AC8      00        Copper - 256+
8AC9      RND       Copper - 000+

8FAB      3         Food Packets 255+
8FAC      3         Water Flasks 255+

-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JIM NORRIS, MARK WIECZOREK AND JAMES NEAL

5.3.2 MANIPULATING THE DUNGEON
------------------------------

Below here is a very comprehensive list of all the different locations including
all the fixed encounters. There is also a list for stats and valuables which can
be altered in the same way as the rest.

Memory locations for
  6313  X Position	
  6314  Y Position	
  6315  Dungeon Level	

The Dungeon Levels can be given the following values:

  1.1 = 0
  1.2 = 1
  1.3 = 2
  1.4 = 3
  2.0 = 4
  3.0 = 5
  4.0 = 6
  Room of Confusion (RoC) = 5

Values which can be given to the X and Y positions (note the Level):

  X     Y     Level Name

  10    10    1.1   Stairwell
  11    0F    1.1   6 Pack
  6     0E    1.1   message (A dirty sign reads: "Goblins only!")
  1B    7     1.1   message (A sign above the door says:
                             "Welcome to the Chapel. Please come in!")
  1A    1B    1.1   message (You stand before an elaborate door.)
  2     2     1.1   Grahm's Gold Exchange
  2     0E    1.1   Goblin King's Palace
  1F    1B    1.1   Tomb of Acrinimiril
  1B    8     1.1   Chapel
  1C    8     1.1   Chapel
  1F    8     1.1   Chapel Sanctuary
  1F    1     1.1   Whetstone
  6     1     1.1   Crossbow [03]
  0B    1     1.1   Thunder Quarrels [10]
  0B    1B    1.1   Vampire
  1F    4     1.1   Golden Apple

  1B    1B    1.2   Palace Prison
  12    3     1.2   Dungeon Entrance
  7     9     1.2   Devourer
  11    11    1.2   Stairwell
  13    4     1.2   Doppleganger
  0F    4     1.2   message (A sign on the door reads: "The Damon & Phytias Shoppe")
  16    3     1.2   message (A sign above the door reads: "The Retreat")
  1C    3     1.2   message (A sign reads: "Der Rathskeller Bar & Grille")
  0D    16    1.2   message (A plaque reads: "Shrine of monsters")
  3     1E    1.2   message (The rune of the all-knowing eye is upon the door.)
  14    16    1.2   Entrance to Palace
  0C    1E    1.2   Theives Guild
  12    4     1.2   Wizards of Chaos Guild
  1E    0E    1.2   Wizards of Law Guild
  1A    0E    1.2   Wizards of Order Guild
  0E    4     1.2   Damon & Pythias Shoppe
  1C    2     1.2   Der Rathskeller's Bar and Grille
  17    3     1.2   The Retreat
  0F    19    1.2   Lich
  0F    13    1.2   Valkyrie
  0C    19    1.2   Great Naga
  0C    13    1.2   3 Wraiths
  9     13    1.2   4 Flame Demons
  9     19    1.2   8 Dwarves
  16    5     1.2   8 Homonculi
  1A    6     1.2   8 Skeletons
  1C    5     1.2   Wraith
  10    20    1.2   The Star (card)
  0F    12    1.2   Winged Sandals
  0C    19    1.2   Potion of Restoration
  0C    12    1.2   Morgana's Tiara
  9     12    1.2   Helm of Light
  0A    19    1.2   Truesilver Coat
  1E    7     1.2   Page of Cups Card
  6     6     1.2   Lodestone
  1     1     1.2   Gauss Rifle [95]
  4     1     1.2   Solar Suite

  0E    14    1.3   Fountain (Hit Points)
  0E    16    1.3   Fountain (Hit Points)
  0D    15    1.3   Fountain (Hit Points)
  0F    15    1.3   Fountain (Hit Points)
  12    7     1.3   creature (taurean maze)
  7     10    1.3   creature (taurean maze)
  6     0B    1.3   creature (taurean maze)
  19    0     1.3   creature (taurean maze)
  15    9     1.3   creature (taurean maze)
  12    0B    1.3   creature (taurean maze)
  13    0D    1.3   creature (taurean maze)
  9     25    1.3   Saurian Brandy
  0B    0A    1.3   message (Writing scrawled on the ground reads: "GO BACK!")
  7     0     1.3   message (Scratchings on the wall read: "THERE IS NO ESCAPE")
  10    9     1.3   message (A red arrow on the ground points east.)
  0E    13    1.3   message (You hear the sound of running water.)
  0E    17    1.3   message (You hear the sound of running water.)
  0C    15    1.3   message (You hear the sound of running water.)
  10    15    1.3   message (You hear the sound of running water.)
  0     1F    1.3   message (Glowing letters float in midair: "SEEK THE LIGHT")
  1     1F    1.3   message (Glowing letters float in midair: "SEEK THE LIGHT")
  1     12    1.3   message (You hear the crackle of electricity.)
  1     13    1.3   message (You hear the crackle of electricity.)
  1     14    1.3   message (You hear the crackle of electricity.)
  1     15    1.3   message (You hear the crackle of electricity.)
  1     16    1.3   message (You hear the crackle of electricity.)
  1     17    1.3   message (You hear the crackle of electricity.)
  1E    19    1.3   Bank Vault
  2     1B    1.3   Wizards of Light Guild
  3     8     1.3   Sword of the Adept
  3     10    1.3   Amethyst Rod

  0D    1D    1.4   Enchantress
  1B    1E    1.4   Dungeon Entrance
  0D    1C    1.4   message (Glowing letters on the door proclaim: "Enchantress")
  14    19    1.4   message (A crooked sign says: "TROLLS ONLY")
  1     1F    1.4   message (Black letters hovering slowly say: "THE SHADOW WILL HIDE THEE")
  18    19    1.4   Troll King's Palace
  1     0A    1.4   Wizards of Darkness Guild
  3     4     1.4   The Oracle of Wisdom
  4     19    1.4   Phoenix
  1D    8     1.4   Razor Ice
  10    6     1.4   Blue Pearl Dagger
  1B    3     1.4   Map Stone
				
  12    7     2.0   Dwarven Smithy
  10    7     2.0   Dwarven Smithy
  0     1     2.0   Stairway
  1F    0     2.0   Stairway
  1F    1F    2.0   Stairway
  0     1F    2.0   Stairway
  11    0C    2.0   Stairway (to 03)
  0F    7     2.0   message (Carved above the doorway are the words: "Fine Weapons & Armor")
  13    7     2.0   message (Carved above the doorway are the words: "Fine Weapons & Armor")
  7     18    2.0   message (An arrow painted on the floow points south.)
  19    0E    2.0   message (You hear the sound of running water.)
  17    10    2.0   message (You hear the sound of running water.)
  1C    0E    2.0   message (On the wall is a paiting of a purple pyramid.)
  1C    12    2.0   message (A skull hangs from the ceiling above the door.)
  0B    1F    2.0   Entrance to Wilderness
  1D    13    2.0   River Crossing
  1A    8     2.0   Clothes Horse's Room
  7     19    2.0   Lucky's Potion Brewery
  19    0F    2.0   Fountain - Disease
  18    10    2.0   Fountain - Disease
  8     13    2.0   Mercinaries Guild
  2     5     2.0   Paladin's Guild
  6     0     2.0   Arena Entrance
  15    15    2.0   Undead Warrior
  13    15    2.0   Undead Warrior
  11    15    2.0   Undead Warrior
  11    17    2.0   Undead Warrior
  11    19    2.0   Undead Warrior
  0F    19    2.0   Undead Warrior
  0D    19    2.0   Undead Warrior
  0D    1A    2.0   Undead King's Palace
  11    1     2.0   Vampire
  1B    9     2.0   Whirlwind
  13    2     2.0   Cloak of Levitation
  8     8     2.0   Crystal Breastplate
  0     11    2.0   Robin's Hood
  13    1A    2.0   Death (card)

  0A    3     3.0   Stairwell
  0A    4     3.0   Stairwell
  0B    7     3.0   creature... (gauntlet)
  0C    8     3.0   creature... (gauntlet)
  0C    0A    3.0   creature... (gauntlet)
  0B    9     3.0   creature... (gauntlet)
  0A    9     3.0   creature... (gauntlet)
  1     9     3.0   message (Writing on the wall says: "BEWARE OF THE DRAGON!")
  9     7     3.0   message (Writing carved into the door reads: "GAUNTLET DO NOT ENTER")
  7     0C    3.0   message (The stench is becoming unbearable.)
  0F    0E    3.0   Fountain (fatigue)
  2     0A    3.0   Gargoyle
  3     0E    3.0   Great Dragon's Lair
  8     8     3.0   Death's Door
  0E    0D    3.0   Unblinking Basilisk
  0A    8     3.0   Doppleganger
  9     0F    3.0   Junia's Sword
  9     0C    3.0   Iron Palm Salve
  4     5     3.0   Flame Quarrels [10]

  4     0     4.0   Entrance to Destiny
  6     3     4.0   Alien Control Room
  5     2     4.0   Alien Control Room	
  2     2     4.0   Elevator
  2     7     4.0   Beam Weapon [25]

  5     10    RoC   Melvin's Helm

Note that Locations are listed, one for each entrance. You also may have to
turn in the square you're standing to make the effect of teleporting active.

Here is a list of other memory locations which can be changed:
(Note that the current value can't be above the maximum value.)

  633D  Experience Current  16777215
  633E  Experience Current  65535
  633F  Experience Current  255
  6340  Experience Current  0
  6341  Experience Needed   16777215
  6342  Experience Needed   65535
  6343  Experience Needed   255
  6344  Experience Needed   0
  6345  Hit Points Current  255
  6346  Hit Points Current  0
  6347  Hit Points maximum  255
  6348  Hit Points Maximum  0

  6349  Stamina Current
  634A  Stamina Maximum

  6351  Charisma Current
  6352  Charisma Maximum

  6359  Strength Current
  635A  Strength Maximum

  6361  Intelligence Current
  6362  Intelligence Maximum

  6369  Wisdom Current
  636A  Wisdom Maximum

  6371  Skill Current
  6372  Skill Maximum

  6379  Physical Speed Current
  637A  Physical Speed Maximum

  6381  Noticability? Current?
  6382  Noticability? Maximum? (starts at 127)

  6384  Total good deeds?
  6385  Alignment Current
  6386  Mood Current
  6387  Total evil deeds?

  63B1  Gold           255
  63B2  Gold           0
  63B3  Silver         255
  63B4  Silver         0
  63B5  Copper         255
  63B6  Copper         0
  63B7  Gems           255
  63B8  Gems           0
  63B9  Jewels         255
  63BA  Jewels         0
  63BB  Food Packets   255
  63BC  Water Packets  255
  63BE  Crystals       255
  63BF  Keys           255
  63C0  Compasses      255
  63C1  Timepieces     255

  63CC  Level (unconfirmed)

-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JIM NORRIS AND MARK WIECZOREK

Unlocated stats are currently dapper value (an charisma like stat which changes depending on
what clothing you wear), body temperature (which can give you colds if it gets to low,
and will go up by wearing warm apparel), food and thirst levels and the "jerk rating" stat
(increased by shortchanging healers and such).

5.4 SECRET MESSAGES IN THE GAMES
--------------------------------

Since the Alternate Reality games are very complicated, they were probably very hard to make.
It is suspected that the programmers hid small messages here and there in the game to brighten
up their workdays. Some of them are quite obvious, like Philip Price's name inscribed in The
City's map, and similarly the initials of Ken Jordan and Dan Pinal in The Dungeon.

Ken Jordan and Dan Pinal also hid alot of mathematical symbols in the map of The Dungeon
(see the southeastern part of level 1), but there is also another symbol which appears atleast
twice in the game; it's an upside down Ankh like symbol, imprinted on the map where you find
the Blue Pearl dagger, but also drawn on the shield of the Skeletons.

Also, there is an extensive "readme" displayed if you try to boot The City with Disk 1 Side 2
in the drive:

Alternate Reality Designed & Programmed by Philip Price
P.O. BOX 2634 KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII 96745-2634 Music (All
are Original Scores) Composed by Gary Gilbertson Using
AMP 11.3 AMP 11.3 (Advanced Music Processor) was Designed
& Programmed by Philip Price Phil's AR System Structure...
(c)1985 100% Machine Language/Custom Operating System
with software Banked memory (disk and RAM based)/Custom
Interrupt Driven Sio with 2 voice music carry-over/Advanced
Music Processor 11.3 with songbooks, tunes and 2&4 voice
masked operation/Animation Frame Processor/Advanced Screen
Processor/Three Dimensional Object Manipulaor/Multi-process
Time slotted Queue/Multi-staged Booter and system
validator/128-color Graphics via Interrupts/Multi-Process
Interrupt router/Custom Crytographic Daga Storage (A easily
breakable simple Block Chained, multi-encryption cipher using
pre-generated primary keys, with formula and keys in
minimumally secured memory and disk) Program created on...
Atari 800, 800xl, 1200xl with TRAK drives and a modified 800
with LE high speed drives with these utilities of mine: PICTURE
CUTTER, WALL MAKER, MAPMAKER with MAP PRINTER, PICTURE PAINTER,
52K SWITCH, and CUSTOM MAKRO LIBRARY. and these programs
MICROPAINTER -DATASOFT INC. DOS 2.0, FIXDMP & AMAC -ATARI INC.
THE NEXT STEP -ONLINE SYSTEMS OSS/A+ 2.10 -OPTIMIZED SYSTEM SOFTWARE
6502 ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE ROUTINES -LEVENTHALL/SEVILLE
CRYPTOGRAPHY -DR. CARL MEYER ATARI OS RV A SOURCE DE RE
ATARI TECH USER NOTES 1200XL OS MANUAL My thanks to Gary for his
patience and faith in the project and fantastic music, Craig for
his beautiful pictures, all who buy this game, and God my father,
Jesus Christ my savior, and the Holy Spirit my comforter.

After this text there appears some strange characters. However, these are just some garbled
characters that made it into the string, and no secret message (apparently, the string length
is wrong somewhere in the code).

The only known "real" secret message in The City are the symbols that appear after the Death
theme has played, which apparently is meant to give you clues to what would happen with your
body after the character had died.

5.5 HIDDEN TRIVIA AND ANNOTATIONS
---------------------------------

Presented in this section is a list small tidbits of information around some of the terms
which appear in the Alternate Reality games. Though a man with a classical education might
object to this being listed in the "secrets" section, it could very well be that the authors
of the games more or less wanted to hide these facts.

* Xebec is a real type of ship (see section 6.2 for further information).

* According to Greek mythology, a golden apple was thrown by lady Eris (the goddess of chaos
  and confusion) into a banquet of Greek gods, who started fighting over the apple. This was
  the event which started the Trojan war. Inscribed in the apple was the word "Kallisti",
  which means "to the fairest" or "to the prettiest"...

* Damon and Pythias (or Phintias, as Pythias is a female name) is a story taken from
  about 500 years BC about true friendship. The two men are "Pythagoreans", and friends
  who live together and the story goes that Pythias is condemned to death by the tyrant
  Dionysius I of Syracuse, for conspiring against him. However, Damon offers to be
  excecuted Pythias place, so the latter can go on a journey to arrange some family affairs.
  Damon honored his offer, and when Pythias returned at the last moment, Dionysius was so
  taken by their friendship that he remitted the sentence.

* Rathskeller is ancient german and translates into "advice cellar" (it is a common name for
  pubs or inns).

* Galahad was the pure sone of Lancelot who returned the Holy Grail, and Mordred was the
  bastard son of Arthur and Arthur's sister (or half-sister, depending on legend), from the
  Arthurian stories.

* Robin Hood was legendary outlawed "bandit" who stole from the rich and gave to the poor,
  as told by 14th century English ballads.

* Shingor is an anagram of the name of the person who played the Riddler in the original
  Batman series, Frank Gorshin. -INFORMATION COURTESY OF JOEL GOODWIN

* The river Stonz is a humourus reference to the river Styx from the Greek mythology (ever
  heard the saying "sticks and stones may break my bones..."?). Styx is only one of five
  rivers of the underworld (it is the river of unbreakable oath, though the name actually
  means hate).
  -INFORMATION COURTESY OF MARK WIECZOREK

* The ferryman of the river Stonz is most likely also inspired from Greek mythology (even
  though he looks like the traditional western image of the Grim Reaper). However, Charon
  did not ferry souls across the river Styx, but the river Acheron (the river of woe), and he
  took only one coin for the service (the coin placed under the toungue and buried with the
  deceased).

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
6. MISCELLANIOUS AR QUESTIONS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Pherhaps, this is really what an FAQ should be about; answering those small questions that
has been nagging you for all these years. Well, if you have any additional questions which
aren't answered anywhere else in this FAQ, please feel free to mail me via the e-mail
address at the top of this document.

6.1 WHAT IS THE CURRENT LEGAL STATUS OF AR?
-------------------------------------------

As according to the contract between Datasoft and Paradise Programming, all the rights
to the Alternate Reality games have reverted back to Philip Price.

Concerning the distribution of Alternate Reality The City and Alternate Reality The Dungeon,
Philip Price has said the following:

" Agreed. It goes without saying that the copies that were produced while
the contract was in force can still be sold(ie. A person can sell a Model
T ford even if Ford no longer sells it). On the other hand, Datasoft and
it's sucessor can no longer sell it. But if someone has bought a copy
they are free to do with it what they will just as any consumer can with
any product.

                     -Phil

P.S.
  Plus as I have said before, in regards to the existing product, if you
can't find a person to sell it to you or you need to run it on the
transformer, then do what you have to do ;)."

6.2 WHAT OR WHO IS XEBEC?
-------------------------

Alternate Reality: The City takes place in a large city called The City of Xebec's Demise.
The exact meaning of Xebec is never revealed though, neither in The City or The Dungeon (the
intention was, however, to do reveal it in a later episode).

Even though we don't exactly know, there are still clues to be found. If you look up the
word 'Xebec' in a dictionary, you'll find something like the following:

  ['zi:bek] n sea, a mediterranean ship with three masts.

This could either mean that the city was named Xebec in order to honour one of the Alien's
lost flagships or the like, or it could even be possible that The City of Xebec's demise is
located on a ship of some sort, named Xebec. It is still unknown.

6.3 WHAT ARE THE DEATHTRAPS?
----------------------------

The deathtraps refer to two rooms in The City located at 41E, 4N and 47E, 6N. These rooms
have one-way secret entrances into them (through the east wall, and the west, 
respectively), but no way of getting out other than to turn off the game and kill your
character.

However, The Deathtraps were made by mistake. The City was built with a 2d "bird's eye view"
map editor controlled with a joystick, and at some point the joystick was hit at the wrong
moment, causing these entrances (the deathtraps) which then slipped out unnoticed on the
released version.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF PHILIP PRICE

6.4 WHAT IS THIS 'SECRET AREA' IN THE CITY?
-------------------------------------------

The secret area is the area immideately east of the Arena, which isn't normally accessible
through the game, and has only been revealed by dumping the raw map data from the disk images
of the game. It contains three additional trainers (see section 4.3.8 for locations, but all
are, naturally, closed) and two additional guilds (see section 4.3.4 for details) which are
fully operational (making the total amount of guilds 14).

The trainers were most likely meant to be used in the Arena expanision disk, and the secret
area was probably going to be opened with it, or pherhaps accessible through it.

It is also interesting to note that there are yet additionally two trainers stored in the data
on the disks of The City which can't be found anywhere on the map.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JIM NORRIS

6.5 HOW DO YOU RAISE YOUR ALIGNMENT IN THE CITY?
------------------------------------------------

Simple answer: You can't. The philosophy behind the decision was that you shouldn't be able to
balance out bad acts with good. If you have done something bad, then, just as in real life,
it can't be undone. Though admittedly, the pherhaps more catholic view of alignment (chance
of redemption and so on) adopted in The Dungeon, might be a more playable solution from a
gaming point of view (see section 3.2 for details).
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF PHILIP PRICE

6.6 HOW DO YOU RAISE/LOWER YOUR ALIGNMENT IN THE DUNGEON?
---------------------------------------------------------

Unlike the extremely strict philosophy of The City, The Dungeon has a more flexible view of
a character's evil or good doings. The following is a list of actual memory values modified in
the game (remember that alignment starts out at 127, and ranges from 0 - 255):

Alignment  Action

  - ??       Killing an Evil being
  - ??       Killing a Neutral being
  - ??       Killing a Good being
  -3         Killing a Pauper
  - ??       Killing a Healer
  - ??       Slaying the Great Wyrm
  -1         Waylaying or snatching
  +1         Offering an accepted gift to a Pauper ("Bless your kind, sir!") *
  +1         Praying at the Chapel (once every 24 hours)
  + ??       Donating at the Chapel
  +1         Yielding passage to a Knight
  - ??       Casting an evil Spell
  - ??       Casting a good Spell

-INFORMATION COURTESY OF JIM NORRIS AND MARK WIECZOREK

* Paupers usually accept a few coins or food and water, but they may also accept other items.

Note that shortchanging Healers or giving less that 36 coppers at The Retreat does NOT make
you evil. It just marks you as being a "jerk" (which can cause other establishments to raise
their prices or cause otherwise helping encounters to ignore you instead).

There is currently no definitive list on where the game measures alignment (an enourmous task
to nail down, presumably). Chance of monster attacks and establishment prices are considered
to be the main places of alignment interest. Guilds certainly do charge you different prices
depending on your alignment.

Note that The Dungeon MAY keep track of you total evil or good deeds, though this hasn't been
confirmed yet (see section 5.3.2 for details).

6.7 HOW DO YOU KILL THE GREAT WYRM?
-----------------------------------

First of all, if you want to play a good character, be aware that attacking the Great Wyrm
is an evil act. Also, if you decide to do fight him, he has around 3,000 Hit Points, is
pretty immune to magic and can whop you with about 100 Hit Points a round (if he doesn't
use his Death magic, or breath that is, which is does even more). A good strategy is to use
alot of Temporal Fugue (learned by Ozob, in the Palace Prison at 59E, 36N) which will increase
the hit on your weapon and sometimes lets make additional attacks too. When you do defeat him,
you will however, gain 35,000 Experience Points, and have the option to loot his lair (and
also sell his body for 500 Gold in Der Rathskeller Bar & Grille).

Note that the corpse of a Small Dragon is always worth 50 gold at the Rathskeller...
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF LONEDRIFTR

There are a number of strategies on how to loot his lair. One thing is to join a Guild
near the lair (the Guilds on Level 2 would be the obvious choice then) and only get Gold and
Gems or Jewels and run to the safe and deposit it (obviously, copper and silver weights too
much compared to the values of the others). His lair will eventually be cleaned out (there are
other in The Dungeon too, remember?) but you will most likely, not have any financial problems
in any near future.

It is not confirmed yet that a huge inflation strike all the shops and establishments in The
Dungeon after the lair has been looted...

6.8 WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT THE DEVOURER?
-------------------------------------

The Devourer is one of the most famous (and feared) creatures in The Dungeon. It is also one
of the most amusing, if you know its story. You WILL get a visit by the Devourer if you
carry too much DIFFERENT stuff (depending on how much spells you have and how much items
are laying around in The Dungeon, it'll take about four or five full iventory screens).
He will consume your things when you do encounter him, and he will begin with the heaviest
item first (and avoiding the one-of-a-kind items until last). Some things can however
sometimes be retrieved from Master Thieves if you ever encounter one after having a run in
with the Devourer. The best way to deal with Devourers is, in my experience by using the
Temporal Fugue spell.

Also, note that if you are over encumbered, you can accidently drop things wihout noticing
(watch the status line for new items on the ground, they may be yours).
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL

"Dan and I thought that existing RPGs were extremely unrealistic in that you
could carry (for example) eight items no matter if they are paper clips or
boulders. We wanted to change this for the Dungeon. How much you carry in
the Dungeon was determined by the weight and bulk of the items carried and
your stats. The problem with this was that in the AR system each object was
unique (except commodities like food, money, gems) and had a structure with
attributes (like "spells" which were small intrepreted programs embedded in
objects). Those data structures took up memory (16 bytes to about 64 bytes)
and on an 8-bit 64K (or 48K) computer we had to limit the amount of items
somehow. The way we came up with that was least artificial was to introduce
a creature that would eat up objects when the object queue was getting full. 
Still I would be hard pressed to carry all the itmes in real life that
characters can carry in the Dungeon. But when the number of large complex
items becomes great the chance of meeting a devourer increases untill it
becomes almost 100%. The AR system was not too graceful when memory actually
ran out (since some partial objects may be left around with bad results) so
the devourer must always be vigilant."
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF KEN JORDAN

6.9 HAS THE ENCHANTRESS ANY REALLY SIGNIFICANT USE?
---------------------------------------------------

Apart from the fact that all enchanted weapons are unbreakable, Dan Pinal has a few things
to say about her:

"A lot of people don't seem to think the Enchantress is worth the price. This isn't the case.
The best course though is to give her as much as you can. This means over 200 crystals, 255
if you can. Besides how much you give her, she is also swayed by charisma, and how much of a
'jerk' you are. There are other stats besides damage that all weapons can have.

These are (from memory): Bonus to hit, minimum strength & dexterity to wield without penalty,
parrying ability, weight, hit points (before they break), number of hands required to use.

Unfortunately, she only reports a vague description of damage and how worn it is. She will at
most modify two things (on a very rare roll of the dice she'll do three) if she really likes
you. She also sees through your enchantments and looks at your natural charisma without
magical augmentation. So put on your Flowing Purple Cape and stay on your best behavior.

The best weapons are likely to be a weapons from the Dwarven Smithy that have been enchanted.
Once a weapon has been enchanted, it gets that little lightning bolt in front of its name,
to show that it's been enchanted, and so that it can't be enchanted again. Occasionally, you
will run into Adventurers that have enchanted weapons because they've visited her too.

All this being said, some weapons are better than others, without being obvious about it. The
Sword of The Adept seems pretty mundane but is naturally easy to wield and has bonuses to hit
and parry. Sometimes it's better to have something that hits and parries all the time than
something that's flashy. Ken wanted a special weapon in his section that wasn't magical and
obvious. So because none of its bonuses are from magic, it works really well in areas where
magic (and magical damage) is suppressed or against creatures that are resistant to magical
damage. This would be all aliens, their machinery, and the 4th level. So when your Pulse
Rifle's out of ammo, whip it out and you've still got a chance."
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL

6.10 I REMEMBER FBI AGENTS SOMEWHERE IN THE DUNGEON?
----------------------------------------------------

Yes, you are correct, there were two FBI Agents in The Dungeon. They were a part of the
copyprotection in the game, although a bug in the initial shipping version made them
pop up a bit too often (every time you tried to transfer characters from The City
actually; it apparently had something to do with floppy drives, and especially if you
only had one drive). This was, however, fixed in version 2.0.

The FBI Agents struck you with "the long arm of the law" and there was no way to beat them. 

A common way to crack Atari games was to take a snapshot of the memory after you had let
it boot past the copy protection, thus there is a 1/8th chance that the game will check
the copy protection when you save your game. The copy protection code is on multiple places
on the disk , and is, like all the code and data of The Dungeon, encrypted and checksummed.
If the copyprotection fails when a game is saved, that character is marked and will always
get the two FBI Agents when that character is reloaded.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF DAN PINAL

6.11 WHAT DOES 'YOU ARE TOAST LEVEL 1.1' MEAN IN THE DUNGEON?
-------------------------------------------------------------

That is the default message for a square that didn't have the appropriate description code
assigned. In The Dungeon, every square had to be assigned a description and every square
was checked by testers to make sure that the player couldn't get into an area he wasn't
supposed to be in (ie. an area which isn't a part of the game). The "you are" part is
essentially hard coded for descriptions and the "toast" comes from an expression describing
non-working computer stuff. The "level x.y" part referred to the map segment you are in.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF KEN JORDAN

If you have encountered such an area, you have found a small glitch in the game which the
testers missed and if you can't get out of it, you will have to switch off the computer and
get another save and go from there. (One such area exists north of the Blink Minefield at
9E, 12N, which you can get out of.)

Ken Jordan also revealed to me, pherhaps the most important secret of AR:

  One of the secrets of AR is to never deny any strange theories players may have as to why
  things happen as they do.  This is known as the "Green Dragon" effect (player asks
  "Why did blah blah happen?" you answer "Did you kill a green Dragon?" and no matter what
  the response is you say "Oh! Well that explains it." :-)

Whereupon Dan Pinal contributed the following:

  Oh sure Ken, give away all our secrets.  Next you'll be telling them they
  can't draw monsters by dropping a trail of food packets :-)

6.12 WHAT IS THIS AMP ENGINE?
-----------------------------

The AMP engine is what controlls all the sound of the Alternate Reality games. It stands
for Advanced Music Processor, and was created by Philip Price for Gary Gilbertson and
modified so that lyrics could be displayed, controlled and synchronized to the music.
The engine could also be used to trigger events in the game, using the music (and the other
way around), but alot of those effects never got to be used.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF PHILIP PRICE

The last feature above is directly noteicable in The City, where the Smithy's hammering on
the anvil is always perfectly timed to the music (and note that he lowers his hammer when he
puts the workpiece into the water).

"Phil understood that audio was in many ways much more important to the
video game than the visuals. As Phil would say, audio can stir the
emotions much more than video. To this end his music handler (in Atari
City), had features that began to tie it (realtime) to the game. The
early development versions of Atari Dungeon allowed me to walk down a
hallway of graphics he had created and through the handler have the
power to score the experience much the same way composers score the
movies of today for maximum effect. Walking down a prison hallway,
I was able to randomly program (thru the music handler), tin cups being
run across the bars by bored prisoners... Or if you found the secret way
out of prison, passing a certain location triggered an alarm that got
quieter as you ran from it... This was all amazing stuff at the time
and with 48k."
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF GARY GILBERTSON

There exists a number of demos of various versions of the AMP engine (which can be
downloaded as disk images from http://www.netmagic.net/~ricortes/ar/). Some songs
are even from Paradise Programming's planned sci-fi game F.A.C.E of the Galaxy.

One thing which Gary Gilbertson also did to improve his music, which had nothing to do with
the engine though, was to insert small variations into all the notes, making the sound become
less static and sound more natural and "hand made".

6.13 WHAT AR ARTIFACTS EXIST?
-----------------------------

I guess that the games themselves are artifacts today, if their boxes and documentation are
intact that is. The box was interesting for both games, since its front could fold open to
reveal a set of screenshots and some text. Both games also contained a cartoon style drawn
map of its respective playfield (The Dungeon also contained a letter from 'Trilog', which
is transcribed in the appendix). The Official Adventurer's Survival Handbooks for both
games (8-bit and 16-bit versions of The City Handbook exists) should pherhaps be considered
even rarer.

Datasoft also had posters of both games (probably mainly for display in stores, but you
could order them too; they were standard size). Apart from that, if anyone knows any other
official items that were availible back then, please let me know!

[The author of this FAQ posseses all the items mentioned above, except a City poster and
an intact Dungeon box, so if you have any of those items and wish to get rid of them, or
if you want information about the items I have, please contact me via the e-mail address
at the top of this document. ]

It has also been confirmed by Philip Price himself that the original Atari 8-bit source code
for The City still exists! It's apparently stored on 5.25 inch floppies (condition unknown),
boxed up in Philip Price's garage. However, the source will not be released since Alternate
Reality is still copyrighted, and because Philip Price doesn't want all secrets to be found
out definetly (wouldn't be any fun, would it?).

Gary Gilbertson also had a special tape recording made of a few select AR tunes, specially
remixed using his Amiga. This tape, along with a letter (which can be read, transcribed, in
section 8.5) was sent to a few fans during the mid 90's.

6.14 ARE THERE ANY AR-LIKE GAMES TODAY?
---------------------------------------

That, of course, depends. If you mean a 1st person CRPG, the answer is yes. But if you are
looking for something as complete and deep as AR, not a chance! (Well, unless you are willing
to play an ASCII-text based Rogue clone named ADOM, Ancient Domains of Mystery, which contains
a tremendous amount of stuff.) There has been some real attempts but all of them has had alot
of shortcomings. And of course, there were games like these before there was AR.

The following is a list of 1st person CRPG games, listed in chronological order, so that you
can observe the evolution (or lack thereof) of the genre:

ADVANCED DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: THE TREASURE OF TARMIN CARTRIDGE

Perhaps the longest CPRG name in history? It might also be the first (proper) CRPG game in
history. This was released by Mattel for the Intellivision system back in 1983 (but had been
in production since 1981). It featured "fake" 3D graphics, just like AR, about 50 monsters,
just like AR, and semi-realtime combat, just like AR. It had a really unique interface,
"rotating" equipment through the left hand, right hand and the inventory and featuring audio
only feedback when counting arrows or sacks of flour (food). The goal is to locate and slay
the minotaur and claim his treasure, hidden on one of the 256 levels. The Intellivision had
a very unique controller, looking something like a touchpad phone and requiring a special
sticker to be inserted into the pad which added labels and images for the buttons with
different commands for each game. This means that playing this game through an emulator
makes you miss out on all that. Even though I have strong personal nostalgic feelings for
this game, I do believe that it actually still is enjoyable for anyone, and though it might
also be my childhood memories which haunts me, I still think that the giants or large
ghosts are damn scary when they jump you! (Recently, this game has been freely availible
from The Blue Rangers' "Intellivision Lives!" webpage, as "Minotaur".)

WIZARDY

This is one of the longest CRPG epics in gaming history. It's currently up to the eighth
episode (depending on how you count). It starts from Wizardry 1, released in 1981 for the
Apple II and the on to latest one in full 3D on a modern PC. You play with several party
members here as well. There are alot of stats and the games in general are quite detailed
(and complex) in the way you expect a standard CRPG to be. However, all the games (except
for Nemesis maybe) are hard, damn hard. Wizardry is a classic, though pherhaps not so
famous in all circles, but well worth playing, if for no other reason, educational purposes
(this is hardcore CRPG gaming and not easy to get into).

MIGHT & MAGIC

Currently, there exists 9 episodes of this great game series, which makes it almost as old
and long running as Wizardry. The Might and Magic universe has a special mood which no other
CRPG has. The way it is played, with mini-quests for special skills, monster hideouts to
locate and treasure spread out in its lands, is unique and very enchanting. All the episodes
exist for PC and all are truly recommended to play (except pherhaps the first, which may be
too crude by modern standards). From episode 3 and onward, the game changed pace a bit, and
became very graphical, but retained most of its traditinal play systems (as mentioned before,
The Dungeon artist Bonita Long-Hemsath is the leading artist behind all the M&M games, and for
those of you who completed a M&M game, you may suspect that she brought more than just
lovely art to the game). Might and Magic 3 was absolutely one of the most beautiful games of
its time, with lush 256 color graphics, and M&M 4 and 5 added even more graphical features
(like gatekeepers for the special locations), larger and more elaborate monster designs and
Darkside of Xeen featured an introduction which was, at the time, just as spectacular as the
introductions for The City and The Dungeon were for their time. For each of these games there
exists a 300+ page cluebook if you get stuck (used mostly to solve dungeon puzzles, since the
quests are easy). This is yet another gaming experience which I truly recommend! But restrict
yourself to play episodes 2 - 5, as the rest as unfortunately not at all on the same level.

BARD'S TALE

The original episode of this series was a higly entertaining title for the C64, Apple II and
Atari ST (where the best version exists). It also took place in a single city (named Skara
Brae) as The City did, but here you had a party and you weren't abducted. It featured
different professions for your characters and a very complex magic system, with different
guilds and short key phrases for all the different spells. It was also quite a hard game,
where some dungeons and towers were a nightmare of mazes with literally hundreds of monsters
coming at you at the same time. Bard's Tale 2 and 3 took the game further, and out of the
city, but never (as it usually happens) gained the popularity or retained the magical
atmosphere of the original game. The sequels are also availible for PC (EGA).

DRAGON WARS

This is the last game (?) from the author of the Bard's Tale series. The game inherits alot
of its interface from the previous games, and improves upon it by having a fully graphical
automap, better presentation during combat, and on the Apple IIgs version (which is the best
version of the game, in all aspects) extremely simple to use menus. Alot of non-linear "mini"
quests flesh out the game (I say "mini" within quotes, since some of them are quite essential
to beat the tough end of game boss) and multiple solutions to some problems exist, which is a
good thing, since this game is very hard. For example, you start out with no gold and no
possesions in very rough territory (which luckily, has multiple ways of getting out of,
and you don't have to fight all the monsters if you don't want to). Unique to this game might
also be that loosing a battle does not always mean a bitter end. You can get rendered
unconcious instead, and live to fight another day (though it's somewhat strange that it isn't
the monsters that walk away when the party gets knocked out, but rather the party). The game
also features very funny, sometimes hilarious, monster names and monster descriptions.
Interestingly, some mosters will also try to run away or call for companions, and you can
encounter other Adventurers... does it ring a bell?

DUNGEON MASTER

This is the game that really refined the way all CRPG games were to look like for a long
time after its release. Dungeon Master was the most impressive game of its time, using
incredible, huge graphics and horrifying sound in a way nobody had before. Before this, you
were mostly forced to picture the world before you, but now it was presented to you in a
very detailed, and very real way. You could hear the footsteps of approaching monsters, light
faded into darkness as your torch went out, and your characters constantly needed food, water
and sleep. The interface was also just as revolutionary, as everything was but a click away.
It was so slick that you hardly noticed it at all, just the way it should be. The game is
availible for Atari ST, Amiga and PC, where the PC is the best version (it has the upper edge
on sound, and a "knock" feature for detecting secret walls) and I truly recommend to track a
copy down as soon as possible for this game is still extremely playable, and pherhaps
always will be! Chaos Strikes Back level disks are also availible on ST and Amiga (with a long
intro on the Amiga), and also the sequel, Dungeon Master 2 (PC, DOS, VGA) which added an
original shopping system and changing weather for its outdoor sequences, but never was as good
as the first. Dan Pinal has also mentioned that this is the best CRPG he's ever seen.

BLOODWYCH

This game is only availible for the Atari ST and the Amiga (with a level disk too). What makes
this game worth mentioning is, amongst other things, the way you choose party members. There's
a ritual in the beginning of the game where you have to walk around trying to persuade a
bunch of people to join you. Another great novelty (and a one-timer so far) is a split
screen two player mode! However, I can't imagine anyone surviving in that mode for very
long since food ran out on about the second level even in single player mode. It is also
quite easy to map this game; its indoors only and it has alot of markings on the walls and
you always know that a stone wall is 1 square thick and a wooden wall always has a room on
the other side. The game has an obscure sequel, which failed utterly and didn't add anything
to the franchise.

ISHAR

As with all Silmarillion games, the graphics are beautiful on all three of the games in
this series. However, Silmarillion is also known for not having pherhaps the best though
out control systems at all times. Still, since these games are availible on budget on the
PC (check emulation sites for the ST and Amiga versions) they are worth checking out for a
quick romp (if you have your computer set up for DOS though, since they can otherwise
generate some problems, being this old). Ishar 3 also features some photorealistic graphics
and party members with an opinion (they vote for or against your decisions). All game feature
outdoors locations (cities and wilderness) and there's even a tree-city in Ishar 2!

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

The first modern AD&D game which wasn't like SSI's "goldbox" series. It takes its inspiration
(and everything else) directly from Dungeon Master, and adds a Forgotten Realms theme to
it, plus 256 color VGA graphics for the PC version (Amiga versions exists too) and a couple
of the best soundtracks ever in a CRPG (both EOB 1 and 2 had great midi, although there wasn't
much of it). Both games have great introductions (where EOB 2 really excells in its VGA
representations). Too bad that the ending sequence for EOB 1 never made it into the final
product (SSI refused to pay for another disk in the package), something which was changed for
EOB 2. However, the 3rd incarnation is very poor (mainly because Westwood, who did the first
two games, left and did Lands of Lore instead) and should be avoided. Since the games are
SSI and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons games they are widely availible in various collections
on a budget price level, which they are well worth.

LANDS OF LORE

Lands of Lore was originally meant to be Eye of the Beholder 3, but Westwood jumped off the
wagon (as mentioned above) and pursued their own path to establish creative freedom. The
result was, as with Westwood's other titles at that time (Legends of Kyrandia, Dune 2) a game
with the most beautiful graphics and animation of its time (believe me, their palettes are
simply enchanting). Lands of Lore also builds on Dungeon Master's way of play, but takes
it a couple of steps further by adding more fluid animation and more character interaction,
coupled with alot of special quests and locations with atmospheric music. The fully animated
interface has been simplified, though; all characters share the same inventory. This PC
title should also be availible on budget (or from Westwood directly) and is very well worth
playing, if not atleast to compare it to Dungeon Master too see what have been so brilliantly
evolved from the original creation. Sadly, all of its sequels falls short of all expectations;
they are poor products of the money hungry computer industry of the 90's (containing large
amounts of primitive pre-rendered 3D graphics and lots of video sequences instead of
gameplay).

ULTIMA UNDERWORLD

Amongst the different branching Ultima games which were released during, what I wish to refer
to as "the golden age" of Origin Systems (which is sadly gone now), two games stood out:
Ultima Underworld 1 and 2. These games were different from anything Origin had done before
(System Shock came later) and different from any previous Ultima game. They featured
state-of-the-art 3D graphics, with lighting effects, physics, complex maps and it was all
very grand. As with Dungeon Master, since this was the first time gamers saw these kinds of
graphics (Doom, from iD Software came later), and the immersion was immense. And though the
setting of Ultima Underworld was all in just one (albeit enourmous) dungeon, the details of
the characters, sub plots and different settings you encountered was probably deeper than any
game before it. Sadly, this wasn't the case with the sequel, but Ultima Underworld 1 will
always be a milestone of CRPG games (despite it having action based combat).

LEGENDS OF VALOUR

This is the most hilarious and most direct clone of The City; even the packaging resembles
the AR ones. It is hilarious, because though it was released about ten years after the
original game, it adds absolutely no features besides (ever so slightly) updated graphics
(and alot of werewolves). The creators of this series even promised a bunch of sequels which
were never released! The game is fun while the nostalgia lasts, but should be played only for
educational purposes.

THE ELDER SCROLLS 1 & 2

The first two games in this series from Bethesda are called Arena and Daggerfall. The vision
for these games is not as much Dungeon Master as it is Alternate Reality. This must be one
of the most faithful and promising attempts to recreate the detail levels of The City.
However, it fails due to the amount of bugs that litter the titles, and its interface which
cripples play (and alot of other features which are really puzzling in the way the creators
have thought them out, such as not being able to sleep in a bolted shut room with a monster
on the other side of the wall, no matter how tired ot hurt you are). Another thing which
would generally speak for a game, is size. Both Arena and Daggerfall are huge, but they are
too huge for the design decisions of that game (for example, quests are carried out across
nations, and there actually doesn't exist any roaming monsters in the landscapes). Dungeons
are also a nightmare of complexity and size, and the automap more than often only confuses
it. The deathblow to these games, though, is that the creators have choosen to randomize
just about everything (shop names, city layout, dungeon layout, items, quests, the lot).
The good side of this is that you never play the same game twice, though with the size of
the playfield, that shouldn't have to be a problem, since you could never ever explore every
dungeon unless you play non stop for at least a year or two. The bad side is that you never
get really into the game, never get to know any places or characters, and it feels like the
authors just didn't care for you or anything else. Bottom line, this still is the closest
thing to AR yet, with a definitive distinct atmosphere of its own (seeing the snow fall,
hearing the music and watching the people wander about is really special). So either you
have to live with all its shortcomings, or go back to the emulators (or choose another title
to play from the bunch of good games listed here).

THE ELDER SCROLLS 3

The third game in the Elder Scrolls series (Morrowind) deserve a separate section of its own.
It differs from its predecessors in the way that though it still is huge, it has done away
with the randomized world. This is a great thing, and could have really threatened AR, but
again, the design desicions of the creators quickly dethrone the game. First of all, the
annoying inability to sleep while monsters are close is still there, though not as apparent
this time. Second, they decided to make everyone you meet stand in the same spot all day and
all night. Convenient, they may have thought, but mood shattering. And third, there exists
another aspect which can have the player confuse the local citizens for statues: They have
little or no memory and absolutely no personalities. Stealing, killing and being generally
evil has very little effect, as does trying to act good or friendly. Same goes for
shopkeepers, who seem to suffer from Alzheimer's disease (no matter what you do, their
opinion of you is forgotten on your next visit). Another thing I dislike, but which may be
simply due my personal preferences, is that the creators have tried to invent their own
version of a fantasy world. Again, the part with the lifeless inhabitants shatter the
illusion. All in all, Morrowind and its mission disks are an rather enjoyable, though
perhaps mainly because they were released during a period of severe roleplaying drought.

WIZARDS AND WARRIORS

From the creator of the Wizardry series, this game tries to inherit almost every aspect from
its forefather to continue legacy of the classic CRPG. Although wrapped in a new, but
extremely poor 3D engine (which sometimes, even hampers the gameplay) there is little else
that is different from its predecesors. The maps aren't bigger, the quests aren't interesting,
the gameplay isn't more diverse and the monsters and the spells are more or less the same.
The only thing that really sets the game apart from the other Wizardry titles is that this
game is very, very easy (even on the hardest setting) so atleast, that would be a welcome
thing for newcomers.

GOTHIC

Now what is a 3rd person game doing in this section, you might ask? Well, I might be
stretching things, but during the turn of the millenium, when this game was released, the
CRPG genre was dominated by top-down perspective games, so not only did this game bring
you (literally) more down to earth, it also managed to create a sense of AR de-ja v that
eclipses most games mentioned here! The game starts out by imprisoning you in a hostile
world, just like AR does. You are then left to your own to explore and do whatever you like,
just like AR. You actions also determine if you are good or evil, again just like AR. The
game isn't totally open ended, though (even if you could play it like that), and all of the
characters in the game are rather simple (though cleverly convincing at first). And even
though the combat in the game is an utter drudge (it's down to YOUR skill, not your
character's), I dare to say that if you won't try any other game in this section, at least
try this one.

ARX FATALIS

This game has been labeled as the spiritual successor to the Ultima Underworld games, and if
you have that in mind when you start playing the game, the source of inspiration for the game
is pretty apparent (even down to the completely square corridors). Now, the previous sentence
might poke some fun at the graphics, but they really are servicable, though nothing more.
What really is bothersome, however, is the shaky feeling of the controls. The camera "floats"
around the mouse, giving you a heavy headed feeling. Your characters movements around the
world is also shaky, literally (when moving over objects, the character exercises rather
jerky lateral movement). More gripes with the game are lack of interaction alternatives,
the fact that you can't pull obvious visible equipment off bodies, and the way weapons break
extremely fast, and without notice. Then again, this game was made by a totally unknown
company under a budget game label (JoWood). It's an ok effort, but it lacks the polish of
Ultima Underworld.

OTHER GAMES

Other games of note (thought without distinction) are Knightmare on the ST and Amiga, based
on a fantasy themed TV games show, and Black Crypt, which was made to be an Eye of the
Beholder killer on the Amiga. Also on ST and Amiga, Legend of Faerghail by Thalion, which
was made to be a Bard's Tale killer. Stonekeep for PC, is an inferiour Dungeon Master clone,
which features pre-rendered fullscreen graphics. Special mention should perhaps also be made
of Drakkhen, the first CRPG with 3D vector graphis (though it has nothing to do with AR
beyond a "real time" rising and setting sun).

Possibly even more remote, but still in the AR spirit (though again, totally unrelated), might
be the games Robinson's Requiem and its sequel Deus. These are 3D survival simulations, which
monitors health and sickness like AR, but goes much further in the detail of various ailments.

There is also a promising shareware game called Grimoire in the works, but it never seems to
be released.

6.15 WHY IS THE MOVIE THE MATRIX SO SIMILAR TO AR?
--------------------------------------------------

Nobody knows for certain, it might just be coincidence. However, Philip Price has posted a
story about him having dinner with two movie making brothers in Hollywood to whom he retold
the entire AR story and concept.

I have constructed the following sentences so that they can be read to be true for both
Alternate Reality and The Matrix movies at the same time:

1. THE MATRIX = ALTERNATE REALITY
    * Your body is being kept alive inside a metal cocoon controlled by machines.

2. BLUE PILL/RED PILL = DESTINY
    * To continue to live in the other world, or reject it and fight it from the outside.

3. AGENTS = ALIENS
    * The captors of humans.
    * Can track humans, and take human form.

4. THE ONE = ACRINIMIRIL
    * A person with unique knowledge on how to use Agent/Alien powers against them.
    * He is outside the system, beyond the controlling abilities of the Agents/Aliens.

5. MORPHEUS = OZOB
    * A person who believes in Neo/Acrinimiril.
    * He teaches how to "cheat" in the other world.

6. ORACLE = THE RIDDLER
    * An apparently friendly Agent/Alien.
    * Helps by giving only small bits of information.

7. BULLET TIME = TEMPORAL FUGUE
    * An ability to move incredibly fast.

The sequels to the movie contain a few more connections, like rogue Agents/Aliens.

If you want more in-depth analysis, please refer to the online mailing list archive (see
section 7.1) or try one of the other AR webpages (see section 7.3).

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
7. OTHER SOURCES OF AR INFORMATION
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Apart from the home location of this document, there are a number of fan webpages which have
various information and other contents on them (see the "links" section in the page from
above). But the internet isn't all web. Currently, AR forums exists on a mailing list and
IRC also. See below for the latest details.

7.1 THE ALTERNATE REALITY MAILING LIST
--------------------------------------

Three people have hosted and maintained the Alternate Reality Mailing list previously;
Matt Roller (first initiative taker), Sean Noble and Andy Numainville. The latest edition
is now hosted by Alexander J Rementer who has kindly provided the following very
comprehensive site:

The Alternate Reality Mailing List Archive
http://www.alternaterealityarchive.com/

7.2 #ALTERNATE-REALITY ON IRC
-----------------------------

If you are familiar with Internet Relay Chat (which I won't go into here, but you would try
www.mirc.co.uk for details), you could log onto an Efnet server and join the channel
#alternate-reality.

Though unfortunately, the activity there is presently about zero, though during its heyday
both Gary Gilbertson and Ken Jordan freqeuented the channel.

7.3 OTHER AR PAGES ON THE WEB
-----------------------------

If you want to have your page listed here, please contact me via the e-mail address at the top
of this document.

http://www.markzilla.com/ar/
http://www.akuma.demon.co.uk/ar/

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
8. APPENDIX
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

For those of you who doesn't remember the keys or the ways to correctly save and backup
games in Alternate Reality, in addition to the manuals that are availible on the homepage,
I've taken the liberty to also transcribe the reference cards which came with the games.

8.1 REFERENCE CARD FOR THE CITY
-------------------------------

Alternate Reality
The City

Programmed by Philip Price
Microscreen Art by Craig Skinner
Music by Gary Gilbertson
Documentation by Kathi B. Tremblay

Here's how to use your Atari computer to enter Alternate Reality. Read the Guidebook
before loading the game. It has information you'll need in The City.

  Requirements

* Atari 400/800/XL series computer (48K)
* Compatible disk drives (1 or 2)
* TV or video monitor
* Joystick
* Blank, formatted disk (Character Disk-Optional)
* Alternate Reality - The City game diskettes (2)

Note: Do not Write Protect the game disks or your Character Disk. It's a good idea
      to make backup copies before you load the game. You can make copies of both
      sides of Disk 2 and Side 2 och Disk 1. An elementary copy program is inlcuded
      on Disk 2. Turn off your computer. Insert Disk 2 (either side) into the disk drive
      and close the door. Turn on the computer. Follow the prompts. You can also use
      this copy program to backup your Character Disk.

  Getting Started

1. Turn off the computer and connect a joystick.
2. Place Disk 1, Side 1 in the drive (with two drives, place Disk 2, Side 1 in the
   second drive). Turn on the drive and the computer. If the wrong disk is in the
   drive, the game asks for the correct one. With two drives, the game checks both
   drives for the correct disk.
3. When the game is loaded, follow the prompts.
4. Once you've familiar with the game, press Start to bypass the opening scenario.
   This takes you directly to the Character Decision menu.

Note: If you have two drives, you can acoid turning disks over during gameplay. When
      the game asks for Side 2 of Disk 2, put your backup copy of Disk 2, Side 2
      in the first drive. Leave Disk 2, Side 1 in the second drive.

  Character Decision

The Character Decision menu offers four options:
  Hit N to become a new person
  Hit E to resume an existing one
  Hit I to initialize a Character Disk
  Hit T for a temporary character

Press I to initialize a disk to use as a Character Disk. As prompted, remove the
Alternate Reality disk from the drive and insert a blank, formatted disk. Press any key
to continue. Note: Initializing doesn't format the disk. It simply prepares the disk
for use as a Character Disk. See you Atari user's guide for formatting instructions.

Press N to create a character. Press Return. As prompted, type a Character name
(up to 31 letters, including Secret Name) and press Return. The next prompt is Verify
your name. Type the name again and press Return. You're prompted to remove the AR
disk and insert a Character Disk. You can store up to four character on a Character Dis,
but you can only play with one at a time.

To prevent anyone else from using your character, use the Control key for a
Secret Name. Example: You want a character named Morag with the Secret Name,
Morag Giant. When promted to name your character, type Morag. Press Control and
type Giant. Press Return. Only Morag appears on the screen. Verify the full name when
prompred, pressing Control again for the Secret part. To access this character, type the full
name, using the Control key for the Secret Name. Secret letters can be used before, after,
or within a character's name, or for the entire name (up to 31 letters).

Press T for a temporary character. Follow the prompts, pressing Return after each
response. You can't save this character, but it's useful for getting into the game quickly
to look around and get the feel of the game.

Press E if you already have a character from a previous venture into AR. At
the prompt, rype the ID number corresponding to the name you're using. Type the name
(when prompted) and press Return. To return to the Character Decision menu, press Return
instead of typing a name.

If you make the wrong selection from the Character Decision meny, press the
Option key instead of typing a name. If you make an error when typing a character name,
hit Return when the program asks you to verify the name.

After selecting from the Character Decision menu, you're at the door to enter The City.

  To Save A Character

Save your character when you're ready to stop playing. Press S. You're prompted to
remove the AR disk, insert the Character Disk, and press Start. To play again, reload,
select the saved character from the Character Decision menu, and the game resumes at
the point stopped.

Note: Save the character to disk or you'll lose it when you turn off the computer.

  Compass

Finding your way around The City is simplified by use of a compass, availible for
purchase at most Shops in The City. If you buy a compass, press the Select key until you
see it. The direction you're heading will always be the topmost on the compass (the arrow
always points North):

    N              E              W              S
    ^                                            |
  W | E          N<--S          S-->N          E | W
    |                                            v
    S              W              E              N

  Joystic Control

The Joystick controls physical movement.
  * Enter The City i nthe beginning scene by pushing up on the joystick.
  * Move Forward by pushing up on the joystick.
  * Move Back by pulling down on the joystick.
  * To Turn Right or Left, press the Fire button while pushing the joystick to right
    or left.
  * To Enter a shop or store, push up on the joystick. Follow the prompts. Pull down
    on the joystick to Exit. It's possible to back through a doorway.

  Keyboard Control

To play without a joystick, use the keyboard commands shown in the diagram below.

Note: You must use a joystick to exit Banks and some other establishments.

                           I
                           ^
                           |
                        J<- ->L
                           |
                           v
                           K

 * Press I to enter The City in the beginning scene.

 * To enter a shop or store, press I. Follow the prompts.

You also use the keyboard to interact with business establishments, review and posi-
tion your belongings, and during Encounters.

 * A Menu at the bottom of the screen displays your options. Each option has a
   flashing letter or number. To choose, press the appropriate flashing character. In
   some situations, there is no flashing character. Either hit any key or answer Yes or
   No, where appropriate.

 * Press the Select key to get a full account of your condition. Repeat until you've
   seen all the information and are back in normal operating mode.

 * Defend yourself with either hand in an Encounter. Press U to switch hands.

 * Press R to ready a weapon for use. Follow the prompts.

 * Press D to Drop items. This is usually done to make rooms for new acquisitions,
   since how much you can carry is limited.

 * Press U to Use Potions in your possession. You can't Use Potions during an
   Encounter.

 * Press P to pause the game. Press P again to resume play.

 * Press S to save a character. Follow the prompts.


Datasoft

19808 NORDHOFF PLACE, CHATSWORTH, CA 91311
ATARI IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ATARI COMPUTER, INC.
DATASOFT IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF INTELLICREATIONS, INC.
ALTERNATE REALITY IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF PARADISE PROGRAMMING, INC.
(c) 1985 INTELLICREATIONS, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PRINTED IN USA

8.2 REFERENCE CARD FOR THE DUNGEON
----------------------------------

ALTERNATE REALITY (R)
The Dungeon

Designed and Programmed by Dan Pinal and Ken Jordan

Original Concept by Philip Price

Graphics by Steve Hofmann & Bonita Reid

Music by Gary Gilbertson

Documentation by Kathi B. Tremblay & Thomas J. Clement

Illustrations by Thomas J. Clement

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Here's how you use your Atari computer to enter The Dungeon. Read the Dungeo Guide
before loading the game (yes, even if you've already played The City!); it has vital
information for survival in The Dungeon.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Requirements

* Atari home computer                     * The Dungeon game disks (3)
* Compatible disk drives (1-4)            * Blank disk (Character Disk)
* Video monitor or TV                     * City Character Disk (optional)
* Joystick (optional)

NOTE: Do Not Write-Protect The Character Disk!!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Getting Started

  1. Turn off the computer, remove any cartridges, and connect a Joystick, if
     desired. Turn on the monitor or TV and disk drives.
  2. Insert Disk 1, Side 1 into Drive 1, close the door, and turn on the computer.
  3. Once you're familiar with the opening sequence, hold down the START key to
     bypass it and go directly to the Character Decision menu.
  4. When the game is loaded, follow the prompts.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Backing Up

  Disk 2, Side 1 contains a copy program you can use for backing up your Character
  Disk and all sides of the game disks except Disk 1, Side 1 (play with the backups
  and keep the original in a safe place).

  To use the copy program, turn off the computer, remove any cartridges, insert
  Disk 2, Side 1 into the drive, and turn on the computer. The screen looks like this:

                                    Verify
                                    Format
                                Source Drive = 1
                             Destination Drive = 1
                             Press RETURN to Start.

  Press V to turn Verify OFF or ON (the program runs faster with Verify OFF).
  Press F to turn Format OFF or ON (use Format if you're copying onto an
  unformatted disk). Press S to select which drive you're using for your original
  disk; press D to designate the drive your backup disk is in. To start copying,
  press RETURN and follow the prompts.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Character Decision
  The Character Decision menu offers four options:
    Hit N to become a new person
    Hit E to resume an existing one
    Hit T to transfer a City Character
    Hit U for character utilities

  Press N to create a Character. You get a prompt that says "NOTE: IF YOU
    WISH TO KEEP THIS CHARACTER, YOU MUST HAVE A DUNGEON
    CHARACTER DISK READY WITH FEWER THAN 4 CHARACTERS ON
    IT."

    If you don't have a Dungeon Character Disk prepared, or if your only
    Character Disk already has four Characters saved on it, press ESC. This
    takes you back to the Character Decision menu. Press U to create a blank
    Character Disk (explained below).

    If you have a Character Disk ready, type a name when you see the prompt
    "ENTER NAME:". The name must begin with a letter, not a number!

  Press E if you already have a Character from a previous venture into The Dungeon.
    Follow the prompts.

  Press T if you have a City Character you want to bring into The Dungeon. Make
    sure your City Character was saves in front of one of the two Dungeon
    entrances before you try to bring it into The Dungeon (see the Dungeon
    Guide for information on Dungeon entrances). You can't enter The
    Dungeon if you're Diseased or Poisoned.

  Press U to get a selection of Character Utilities:
    (1)  Create a blank Character Disk formats a disk you can use as a
         Character Disk.
    (2)  Remove a Character gets rid of any undesireable Character.

    Make your selection and follow the prompts.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Corrections
  If you make an error in any selections (in Character Decision or anytime during the
  game), press the ESC key to halt the process and go back to your current Menu.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To Enter the Portal
  After you've created a new Character, you're taken to The Dungeon Portal. To
  enter, press the SPACE BAR (this sets your Stats) and follow the prompts.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To Save a Character
  Save you Character when you're ready to stop playing or when you've built it up
  to a level you want to keep. Press S and follow the prompts. Note: You can only
  save a Character while walking around The Dungeon (not during Encounters, while
  in buildings, etc.).

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To Resurrect a Lost Character
  When a Character that you've saved and reloaded into the game dies, it's not really
  dead (The Dungeon is nice that way). Instead, it's only "Lost". To restore your
  Lost Character, select E and load it the same way you'd load any other Character.
  You'll be transported to the NE Dungeon entrance. Of course, the Character is
  now minus a Stat point (the price of resurrection).

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Compass
  It's a lot easier to find your way around
  The Dungeon if you have a Compass
  (availible at the D & P or, if you're
  lucky, in Treasure). When you own
  a Compass, it's visible on the left of
  your screen. North is always at
  the top of the Compass; the arrow
  points in the direction you're heading.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Joystick Control
  The joystick controls physical movement. Make sure it's in Port 1. Move forward
  by pushing Up on the Joystick, backward by pulling Down. Turn left or right by
  pushing the Joystick Left or Right. One of the four red arrows at the right of
  the screen lights up, showing you which direction you're heading.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Time Indicator
  A symbol just under the word "Stats:" at the top left of
  your screen, is in constant motion when time is passing.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hit Points
  Hit Points are displayed as "Hit Points =" or "Hit Points :". When you see
  the "=", your Hit Points are at their maximum level. the ":" means you've lost Hit
  Points and need rest or healing.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Keyboard Control
  You can move around The Dungeon using the Keyboard instead of a Joystick. Move
  forward by pressing I, backward by pressing K. Use J to turn left and L to turn
  right. One of the four arrows at the right of the screen lights up, showing you
  which direction you're heading.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Other Important Information
  When you're walking along Dungeon corridors (exploring), text at the bottom of
  the screen shows you which level you're on and how many Food Packets, Torches,
  and Water Flasks you have. It also lets you know if you're hungry, thirsty,
  Diseased, Cursed, etc.

  To get information about other things you're carrying, as well as what Curses and
  Diseases you have, etc., press , (comma) and . (period) or START and
  SELECT.

  During an Encounter or any other interaction, if you lose sight of the main menu,
  just press the SPACE BAR to get back to it.

  Below is a list of options you can use in The Dungeon:

    C  Cast a Spell (only during Encounters or when exploring);
    D  Drop an item (only during Encounters or when exploring);
    E  Examine Spells or items (check your Inventory);
    U  Use an item (you can't light a Torch, use a Timepiece, or eat and drink
       during an Encounter);
    P  Pause the game (this suspends all time and activity; press any key to
       continue);
    G  Get an item you've dropped or discovered (you can't pick up anything
       during combat);
    S  Save a game (only when exploring);
    Q  Quit a game without saving it.

  Press the ESC key to get out of an option after you've selected it. Example:
  You selected C to cast a Spell, then decide you don't want to cast a Spell
  after all; just press the ESC key and you'll be back where you were before you
  tried to cast the Spell.

Datasoft

19808 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311

Atari is a registered trademark of Atari Computer, Inc.
Alternate Reality is a registered trademark of Paradise Programming, Inc.
Datasoft is a registered trademark of Intellicreations, Inc.
(c) 1987 Intellicreations, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA.

8.3 THE LETTER FROM TRILOG
--------------------------

Day27, Month of Sowing.
Year 5 Since Abduction

Greetings Fellow Travellers:

I am Trilog. I was kidnapped from my home several years ago
and left in this alien place. I understand that I am one of the
few who survived the arduous encounters of The City of Xebec's
Demise. Having gained strength, wisdom, and courage there, I
decided to venture into the dank depths of the cavernous world
beneath The City: The Dungeon.
Though I made extensive plans before descending into the
Dungeon, I was not totally prepared for what befell me. As I write
this, I have already been faced with sould-shaking encounters,
monstrous foes, and unnatural perils. The lower I travel into
the Dungeon's darkness, the more alone I feel. Solitude weights on me
and Death dogs my heels: it lurks in the shadows, waiting for me.
Yet, I've come too far to quit now. Along with the danger
comes the strength drawn from simply surviving: from hard fought
adventures; from battles won!
I trust this map will be found by others like me. I cannot
mark my exact course of travel, I'm afraid, because there are evil
enemies who might also find this map and use it to hunt me down.
There are several places marked on the map where you will
be met with baffling and fearsome quests. But don't lose heart!
I've lived through many of these and am confident that these
quests will one day provide me with the solution to my ultimate
goal(and undoubtedly yours)... Escape from Alternate Realilty and
the return to my beloved Earth! Good luck. And if I have been
fortunate, pherhaps you and I will one day meet and share stories
of The Dungeon.

Fare Thee Well,
Trilog

8.4 COMPLETE LYRICS FOR ALL SONGS
---------------------------------

[I have entered the text of the songs exactly as it appears in the game,
except in lowercase.  Each line represents one screenful.  The titles
are my own and did not appear in the game.  My comments are in square
brackets.]

ARMOR [City]

armor
this we have for you
we do
armor
tools of death
we have them too
swords
worth much more than
you pay
swords
to hold evil
at bay

DWARF DANCE (Instrumental) [City]

[Text, but preceding the music,
which begins on the word "dwarf."
The song repeats endlessly,
the intro text does not.]

walking in
sitting down
naturally you
glance around
on the floor
about to dance
with smallish legs
in smallish pants
a character
with features drawn
from ages past
and yet to dawn
you down an ale
a few a forth
you watch the dance
you watch the dwarf

AR: CITY INTRO [City]

the early morning
turns into early day
a sunset comes they
take the colors
away
where you are
alternate reality

a bit like home yet
unmistakably new
a morning rain then
evening stars come
and view
what is your
alternate reality

you walk around each
corner hoping to see
a way to get back
home a way to
break free
and to leave
alternate reality
this is your
alternate reality

MOMENTS IN MY LIFE [City]

these are just
moments in my life
that i've held out
for you to see
look at them
look at them
and tell me if you
see the real me
i have been waiting
for you
my heart is hoping
you will see

in all the
moments of my life
i've none that shine
so bright as you
look at them
look at them
and tell me if you
see the real me
i have been waiting
for you
my heart is hoping
you will see

these are just
moments in my life
that i've held out
for you to see
look at them
look at them
and tell me if you
see the real me
i have been waiting
for you
my heart is hoping
you will see

DEATH IN THE CITY [City]

now that you're gone
some will grieve
on on and on
i know you'll be
back again
maybe next time
will be the time you
win

LET IN THE LIGHT [City]

let in the lite
we want to see
past colored shadows
in a fantasy
evil appears
and we've the right
to cast such shadows
from apparent sight

treasures below
will help reveal
secrets around us
both true and unreal
the floating gate
could hold the key
investigations
do them without me

let in the lite
we want to see
past colored shadows
in a fantasy

WAVES [City]

the waves at
home are pounding
on the shore
the snow here's
falling
just outside my door
and all i want's
to be with you
once more
but i'm told
that this is one
thing that i best
stop hoping for
they tell me to
go on
i ask them for
how long
they tell me to
be strong
to what you can't
be wrong
i'm lost without
your love
i need you here with
me
in this
reality

the reply

they without warning
took away
from me
the happiness
we shared when
you were free
i search the sky
my love return
to me
i am cold
and feel alone
blind silent
this i've come to be
friends tell me to
go on
no one knows where
you've gone
they tell me to
be strong
endeavor to
live on
i'm lost without
your love
i need you here with
me
come to
reality
i know that you'll
agree
to hurry home to me
as soon as you are
free

THOREANDAN [City]

[All these verses are played in random order,
but always a long followed by a short.
This is the way I personally prefer it;
it's different than the order on the videotape.
Repeats endlessly.]

let me tell you
bout thoreandan
the man who bit off
the dragon's hand
no blows from his
sword ever did land
so he bit off
the dragon's hand

paws and claws
could be the cause
of anyone here's
demise

when you're tired
you shouldn't retire
in bad parts of town
they'll setcha afire
as they burn you
a circle they form
they intend to
stay snug and warm

do be kind
to poor and blind
see well out beyond
your eyes

into danger
entrusting our sword
to ward off dragon
or evil horde
we love danger
and we love our wine
just like treasure
we hope to find

raise your mug
another jug
relax and stay thru
the night

 AR: DUNGEON INTRO [Dungeon]

how do you
expect us to
live here within
this world of yours
built on fantasy
and other illusion
i'd rather
take my chances
with earthly
circumstances
'way from this
world of glances
nowhere to run
some thought it
a wishing well
filled only
with dreams
some thought it
an evil spell
some still hear
the screams
the journey downward
lasted for hours
maybe longer
you know it's
hard to say
in a trance
along the way
waiting for others
on a ledge covered
with the suffered
remnants of
previous life
felt the pain
though none in sight

damp darkness
is everywhere
you
long for
the sun
your ears grasp
at every sound
this is the 
dungeon

the journey downward
could last forever
ending never
never could
be this way
who are you
am i to say
some thought it
a wishing well
filled only
with dreams

THE DEVOURER [Dungeon]

[This song repeats endlessly. 
Every once in a while,
perhaps after every three repetitions,
there is the single phrase
"He might eat your...sword".]

the devourer
is it him or her?
is it scale or fur?
does it occur
in the dark of nite?
crystal cavern lite?
metal appetite?
i want to know you?
i want to know you?
i want to know...
the devourer?

GOOD GUILD [Dungeon]

when some are lost
can't find their way
a number of
them stray
to where you've
come today
then there are those
that this is for
and those that are
no more
we've peace and 
yet there's war

EVIL GUILD [Dungeon]

enter dear champion
come...rest awhile
if blacks your heart
then we're your
style
falsehood--deception
black arts for all
evil to rise and
good to fall

RATHSKELLER ROCK & ROLL [Dungeon]

[Repeats endlessly. 
I think the verses are played in random order,
or perhaps the song always plays in this order
but can start at any verse.]

sliced off an elbow
bit off a toe
a big toe
cut up a ghost but...
it didn't show
typical
when monsters are
monsterin'
we rock and roll

[CHORUS:]
crash!  mash  bash!  boom!!
splat zappp!!!  bonk  zoom!
bang!!  poww!  baroom!
crash!  mash  bash!  boom!!
splat zappp!!!  bonk  zoom!
bang!!  poww!  baroom!

startin to wonder
what's going down
underground
we slashem we mashem
they're still around
all around
when monsters are
walkin
we rock and roll

[chorus]

into a cavern
friends by your side
for the ride
cavern got narrow
one friend was wide
but we tried
to get em on thru he
got stuck and died

[chorus]

out sippin potions
me and this guy
gettin high
some made us silly
some made us cry
don't know why
and then someone
hollared
let's rock and roll

[chorus]

bought me some armor
found me a blade
there it laid
armor was shiny
but it would fade
like most made
i'm ready for
monsters
let's rock and roll

[chorus]

THE TROLL KING [Dungeon]

ah!...come in
the troll king calls
you 'cross the room
do beware this
horrid carnivore
drools doom
if you're in his way
don't stay

IN THE HALL OF THE GOBLIN KING [Dungeon]

you come to see
the goblin king
so many of ya people
do
you think you maybe
take the ring?
you know the trolls
they want it too

DEATH IN THE DUNGEON [Dungeon]

now that you're gone
some will grieve
on on and on
i know you'll be
back again
maybe next time
will be the time

now that you're gone
some will grieve
on on and on
i know you'll be
back again
maybe next time
will be the time you
win

INTO THE FRAY [Dungeon]

into the fray
into it everyday
there just to carry
on
playing the champion

moving along
silence my only song
as i continue on
playing the champion

into the fray
into it everyday
there just to carry
on
playing the champion
i am the champion

-INFORMATION COURTESY OF MARC G. FRANK

8.5 A LETTER FROM GARY GILBERTSON
---------------------------------

The enclosed tape has a number of AR songs converted to play on the Amiga. The problem with
converting old Atari songs is they were all composed knowing that there would be but four
voices. Waking up one day with a computer like the Amiga and moving out of the realm of
the 4 fource square wave music thing into the world of instrument samples and no realistic
memory constraints, is a bit overwhelming. I must say that in many of the cases here presented,
I never really had the time to fine tune what you are about to hear. So hang in there...
If you recall the tunes, I guess I've succeeded.

I've included background on each tune, more than you ever wanted to know about AR songs.
*chuckle*

GANTHEM 1:45 [AR - City]
Ganthem was written at Datamost while Phil and I were being courted to sign a contract allowing
them to distribue "The Tail of Beta Lyrae" (our first game), have Phil do copy protection for
them and me to write game music for their other releases. Phil was checking out the place and
I found a spare Atari and sat down and wrote Ganthem. At the time I wasn't sure what it would be
for. The inspiration for it was the slave powered boats in the Ben Hur movie. I could picture
that guy setting the rowing pace by pounding the drum below decks. Aside from that, I wanted to
write an anthem. Well it didn't turn out to sound like an anthem, so I put a "G" in front
(I wrote it) and figured nobody would know what the title meant... I was safe. :)

HAVEN (Sanctuary) 2:30 [AR - Dungeon]
Haven was written around the time the acrinim story found on the web page was written.
The lyrics and the melody came to me at the same time. Like Thoreandan, Haven was an attempt to
write some period type music for the medieval atmosphere of the City and Dungeon. Please excuse
me for the Beatle-esque ending... Couldn't help myself *chuckle*

MOMENTS 2:00 [AR - City]
While Phil and I were working with Datamost, we were phoned by some fellows in northern
California who had caught wind of our work on Alternate Reality. Being farmiliar with Beta
Lyrae, they wanted us to sign with them for Alternate Reality. They flew to Hawaii and we
entertained them in my home. Because we had little to show on AR (Phil had the beginning of
the 3D walk thru, but no monsters), the visit became nothing much except a demo of the music
(with words on screen etc). Well Moments was done and I recall one of the Advertising people
that came along, helped me with some of the words. This is one of those songs that maybe worked
better on Atari. I claim no brilliance in drumming and... Well I could use help in that area.

ARMOR 3:36 [AR - City & Dungeon]
I seem to be alone on this, but this is without question, my favourite song in AR. In it's first
incarnation (Atari 8bit), the integrating the hammer blows into the music and the lament of
the song... I could feel the blacksmith's labor. The version recorded here, I like even more.
This ARMOR not only has the blacksmith's hammer, it also has him placing the hot blade into
the water (sizzzzle). Even though it has no bridge, as a musical piece it has one of the more
complex melody(s) in all of AR music. In the second verse you can hear a trumpet laying down
a new melody, while the old plays in the background. The third verse is highlighted by yet
another (although sparse) melody line (high pitched). After this verse, as the song appears to
climax, a dream sequence commences and the blacksmith's hammer gets louder and louder with
the final beat of the song being his putting the blade in the water (sizzzzzzzzzzzzle).

INTO THE FRAY 2:22 [AR - Dungeon]
Someone once told me that it was very difficult in western music to write a song in 5/4 or 7/4
time. Well that's not true... I sat right down and wrote Into the Fray (7/4 time). In this
version, you can hear the water dripping into puddles on the floor of the caverns you are
walking through :)

DWARF DANCE 1:15 [AR - City]
Just as goofy as the little people this was meant to depict. Children always like this song.

WAVES 4:06 [AR - City]
This song along with the AR theme was debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show, January, 84,
in Las Vegas. Phil and I had a special rig and version of these great tunes that used 8 voices
(we sunched two Ataris together). Interesting sideline to this is that a fellow game writer saw
the AR 3D graphics demo and decided to drop work on his then current project and move to finish
another one he called Bard's Tale. True Story.

GREMLINS 1:13 [AR - Dungeon]
The Troll song was already done and I knew I needed another song in a similar vein to cover the
Gremlins. As time was running out, I finally finished this little ditty.

TROLL 2:22 [AR - Dungeon]
Actually, I cheated on this one. I had written this for another project, that I ended up not
needing. This song was written as Baby Dinosaur. It had lyrics like:

Baby dinosaur is walking down the street
Look'n kinda hungry think it wants to eat
If you're in its way...
Don't stay.

Oh well, it fit in the Troll area just fine in Dungeon. By the way, this tune has had more work
done on it than most. I needed this for another project and was able to devote a bit more time
to this Amiga version.

AR THEME 3:33 [AR - City]
Don't expect to enjoy this one. I've not had time to do a version of this that captures and
appeals to those who liked the 8 bit Atari version. Maybe someday.

DEATH :57 [AR - City & Dungeon]
Silly, but seemed fitting to throw this on the end of the tape :)

Thanks for indulging me,

Gary Gilbertson

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9. SPECIAL THANKS & CREDITS
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You might wonder why there is a bunch of credits inside the text of this FAQ. Well, the
answer is simple! It simply isn't possible for a single person to learn everything there is
to learn about AR. Even though I have played the game (on and off) since it was released,
over fifteen years ago, I still learn new things from other people all the time.

The following is a list of names (in alphabetical order) of people who have
(directly or indirectly) helped me over the years. My thanks go out to all of them:

  Robert Cortese
  Mark Devlin
  Tony Eksell
  Marc G. Frank
  Gary Gilbertson
  J.F. Goodwin
  Ken Jordan
  Ronald A. Laski Jr.
  Wayne Myers
  Sean Noble
  Jim Norris
  Andy Numainville
  Dan Pinal
  Philip Price
  Matt Roller
  Jimmy Sjstrm
  Mark Wieczorek
  RegisMeek

If your name doesn't appear here and you think it should, please contact me right away via
the e-mail address at the top of this document.

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10. LAST NOTES
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I would like to make one last comment. During all these years with Alternate Reality, no
matter who I talked to, everyone who ever had played the game still thinks it is the best
CRPG game ever and they are usually very determined about that. I don't know if it was the
timing of the game or what it was, but it presented you a depth that was so completely unique
that no other game since it has never even managed to come close to delivering the same
experience.

Again, I would like to thank Philip Price for bringing it, and much joy, to us.


Yours Sincerely, Robert Hagenstrm


~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`'~`

                                          THE END (?)








          "If he could do that with only 48k, imaging what he could do with todays computers."
                                                                              -Gary Gilbertson


                                                        "The last thing it will be is a game."
                                                                                 -Philip Price
